NSW is about to gain another new national park that’ll protect vital wetland ecosystems and threatened species across 37,000 hectares. 

 

I’m not gonna lie, I feel like I’ve written this news about three times before – the news of a new stretch of bush in Far West NSW being acquired by the NSW Government to add to the state’s national park estate – and I love it!

Read more:
NSW Has a Brand New National Park
Two New National Parks Are Being Created in the NSW Outback
NSW Has Just Purchased 153,000 Hectares for a New National Park

The collective area of Comeroo, Muttawary, and Maranoa stations, situated north-west of Bourke on the traditional Paroo and Warrego River country of the Budjiti, Kunja, Gurnu Baarkandji, and Muruwari people, will form a new national park by late 2024. 

The area has a diverse range of habitats including alluvial floodplains and swamps with permanent waterholes, grasslands, shrublands, ephemeral wetlands, and woodlands.

 

‘Permanent protection of this site is fantastic news for biodiversity and especially for waterbirds,’ said Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of The Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW.

‘The swamp is in excellent ecological condition, largely unaffected by upstream water resource development.’

These wetlands include Yantabulla Swamp, which stretches across over a quarter of the soon-to-be-named park and has been recognised as an ‘Important Bird Area’ by BirdLife International. This swamp is a part-time home for thousands of migratory shorebirds that are internationally protected, as well as 50,000 waterbirds, such as Grey teals, Night herons, and the threatened Freckled duck.

The park will protect 13 known threatened species in total, including the Stripe-faced dunnart, Pink cockatoo, Ringed brown snake, and Hall’s babbler, as well as a swathe of Aboriginal cultural sites such as scarred trees, waterholes, wells, and stone arrangements. 

Stripe-faced dunnart | Photo by James Val

Hall’s babbler | Photo by Dean Ingwersen (DPE)

The national park is expected to be named, established, and opened to the public by late 2024. 

‘National park management and visitation are an important economic driver for regional New South Wales, said Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe.

‘In time, this will become another must-see national park destination. The construction of visitor experiences and driving tours will help people explore this vast new park.’

The stations were purchased by the NSW Government, with support from The Nature Conservancy and brokered funding courtesy of the Wyss Foundation.

 

Photography by Joshua J Smith Photography