New England National Park
Encyclopedia
New England National Park is situated on the Northern Tablelands in the New England
region of New South Wales
, Australia
, 560 km north of Sydney. It is about 10 km south of Waterfall Way
, just 85 km east of Armidale
and 65 km west of Coffs Harbour. Ebor
, 20 km away, is the closest village to New England National Park.
were granted.
The national park was officially opened by the Governor General Lord Gowrie
in 1937, although the wilderness area was recognised for its beauty as early as the 1920s.
New England National Park (NENP) was World Heritage listed in 1986 and forms part of the New England Group of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (previously the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia) (CERRA).
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia was added to the Australian National Heritage List
in 2007.
Located on the precipitous escarpment on the east of the undulating Northern Tablelands plateau, the wilderness consists of impressive cliffs, rugged ridges, spurs and streams. To the west the Nymboida
, Guy Fawkes
and Styx
Rivers drain across the tablelands. To the east is the thickly forested Bellinger River
valley.
The Cunnawarra National Park
adjoins the New England National Park on the north-western boundary and the Bellinger River National Park
joins it on the north-eastern corner.
Public access to the park focuses on the Point Lookout
area (1,563 m above sea level), from where on a clear day the Pacific Ocean
is visible. This lookout is the second tallest mountain in the region and one of the highest places north of the Snowy Mountains
.
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The park lies within the Eastern Australian temperate forests
ecoregion
. It is noted for the wide variety of plant and animal species. The diverse vegetation in the park includes sub-tropical, warm temperate and cool temperate rainforest in the higher altitudes. There are also areas of sclerophyll
forest, sub-alpine woodland
, heath
land and swamp
land. Heathland is found at Wrights Lookout and in other patches. Estimates of the number of different plant species in the park place the figure at 500. This includes snow gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora
), Antarctic Beech
, tree ferns and red cedars (Toona ciliata
).
Dingo
s, Koala
s, Tiger Quoll
s, Common Bentwing Bat
s, Brown Antechinus
es, and Northern Brown Bandicoot
s are some of the mammals found in the park.
, Greater Sooty Owl
, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
and Superb Lyrebird
. Eastern Whipbird
s, Eastern Bristlebird
s, Crimson Rosella
s, Australian King Parrot
s and several kinds of honeyeater
s also inhabit the reserve.
The park has been identified by BirdLife International
as an Important Bird Area
(IBA) because it supports one of five remaining populations of Rufous Scrub-bird
s, as well as of Flame
and Pale-yellow Robin
s, Paradise Riflebird
s, Green Catbird
s, Regent Bowerbird
s and Australian Logrunner
s.
Limited accommodation is available in the park at Banksia Point
. If visiting in winter it is a good idea to bring warm clothes because at such a high altitude the region experiences frequent snow falls and cold temperatures.
Yaraandoo Eco-Lodge Function Centre located about 500 metres in along the Point Lookout road also offers accommodation and conference facilities in a peaceful bush style setting.
New England (Australia)
New England or New England North West is the name given to a generally undefined region about 60 kilometres inland, that includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:The region has been occupied by Indigenous...
region of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 560 km north of Sydney. It is about 10 km south of Waterfall Way
Waterfall Way
The Waterfall Way is a road and State Highway 78 in New South Wales, Australia. It runs east-west from the Pacific Highway to the New England Highway at Armidale. The route passes through some of New South Wales' most scenic countryside and has become well known as New South Wales best and...
, just 85 km east of Armidale
Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...
and 65 km west of Coffs Harbour. Ebor
Ebor, New South Wales
Ebor is a village on Waterfall Way on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated about east of Armidale and about a third of the way between Armidale and the coast. At the 2006 census, Ebor and the surrounding area had a population of 160...
, 20 km away, is the closest village to New England National Park.
History
In the 1920s Philip Wright of Wollomombi led the push to have this area declared a National Park. Most of the area was declared a reserve in 1931 and in 1935 dedicated for public recreation. Between 1934 and 1956 mining leases for antimonyAntimony
Antimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
were granted.
The national park was officially opened by the Governor General Lord Gowrie
Lord Gowrie
Lord Gowrie may refer* Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie* William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie...
in 1937, although the wilderness area was recognised for its beauty as early as the 1920s.
New England National Park (NENP) was World Heritage listed in 1986 and forms part of the New England Group of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (previously the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia) (CERRA).
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia was added to the Australian National Heritage List
Australian National Heritage List
The Australian National Heritage List is a list of places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia. The list includes natural, historic and indigenous places...
in 2007.
Geography
Nymboida River
The Nymboida River is a river in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales in Australia. The headwaters of the river rise approximately 30 kilometres to the west of Dorrigo in the New England National Park near Barren Mountain....
, Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes River
The Guy Fawkes River is a river in northern New South Wales, Australia that runs from the south to north along the valley of the Demon Fault Line in the Guy Fawkes River National Park....
and Styx
Styx River (New South Wales)
The Styx River is a river in New South Wales, Australia.The Styx River rises in the Snowy Range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, which forms part of the eastern escarpment of the Northern Tablelands. It starts near the village of Ebor....
Rivers drain across the tablelands. To the east is the thickly forested Bellinger River
Bellinger River
The Bellinger River is a river on the mid north coast of New South Wales. Clement Hodgkinson was the first person to explore the area in March 1841....
valley.
The Cunnawarra National Park
Cunnawarra National Park
Cunnawarra is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 80 km east of Armidale, 10 km off the Waterfall Way and 565 km north of Sydney. The 25 kilometre Styx River Forest Way runs from the Point Lookout Road through Cunnawarra National Park to the Kempsey Road...
adjoins the New England National Park on the north-western boundary and the Bellinger River National Park
Bellinger River National Park
Bellinger River National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, about 410 km north of Sydney. The main feature of the park is the Bellinger River and the unspoilt forests on its upper reaches....
joins it on the north-eastern corner.
Public access to the park focuses on the Point Lookout
Point Lookout, New South Wales
Point Lookout is the name of a mountain in the New England National Park, near Ebor, Australia.It is the second highest peak in the Snowy Range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range which forms the highest part, and eastern edge of the Northern Tablelands...
area (1,563 m above sea level), from where on a clear day the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
is visible. This lookout is the second tallest mountain in the region and one of the highest places north of the Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
.
Flora and fauna
Eastern Australian temperate forests
The Eastern Australian temperate forests are an ecoregion of open forest on uplands behind the east coast of New South Wales and southern Queensland, Australia.-Location and description:...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
. It is noted for the wide variety of plant and animal species. The diverse vegetation in the park includes sub-tropical, warm temperate and cool temperate rainforest in the higher altitudes. There are also areas of sclerophyll
Sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....
forest, sub-alpine woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
, heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
land and swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
land. Heathland is found at Wrights Lookout and in other patches. Estimates of the number of different plant species in the park place the figure at 500. This includes snow gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora
Eucalyptus pauciflora
The Snow Gum is a small tree or large shrub native to eastern Australia.-Habitat:It is usually found in the subalpine habitats of eastern Australia. Snow Gums also grow in lowland habitats where they can reach heights of up to 20 metres. Lowland Snow Gum is sometimes known as White Sallee, Cabbage...
), Antarctic Beech
Nothofagus moorei
Nothofagus moorei, is an important Gondwana relict of the rainforests of the southern hemisphere. It occurs in wet, fire free areas at high altitude in eastern Australia....
, tree ferns and red cedars (Toona ciliata
Toona ciliata
Australian Red Cedar , Toona ciliata is a forest tree in the family Meliaceae which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. In Australia its natural habitat is now extensively cleared subtropical rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland...
).
Dingo
The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...
s, Koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
s, Tiger Quoll
Tiger Quoll
The tiger quoll , also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tailed dasyure or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus Dasyurus native to Australia...
s, Common Bentwing Bat
Common Bentwing Bat
The Common Bent-wing Bat, Schreiber's Long-Fingered Bat, or Schreiber's Bat is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family. The Common Bent-wing Bat is part of the largest group of bats; the M. schreibersii . The M...
s, Brown Antechinus
Brown Antechinus
The Brown Antechinus , also known as Stuart's Antechinus and Macleay's Marsupial Mouse, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae.-Taxonomy:...
es, and Northern Brown Bandicoot
Northern Brown Bandicoot
The Northern Brown Bandicoot , a marsupial species, is a bandicoot found only on the northern and eastern coasts of Australia and nearby islands, mainly Papua New Guinea. It is not, however, found far inland....
s are some of the mammals found in the park.
Birds
At least 100 species of birds have been recorded. Larger species include the Wedge-tailed EagleWedge-tailed Eagle
The Wedge-tailed Eagle , sometimes known as the Eaglehawk in its native range, is the largest bird of prey in Australia, but it is also found in southern New Guinea. It has long, fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail...
, Greater Sooty Owl
Greater Sooty Owl
"Black owl" redirects here. For the comic-book superhero, see Black Owl.The Sooty Owl , also known as the Greater Sooty Owl, is a medium to large owl found in south-eastern Australia, Montane rainforests of New Guinea and have been seen on Flinders Island in the Bass Strait. They have a finely...
, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua galerita, is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia and New Guinea. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being considered pests...
and Superb Lyrebird
Superb Lyrebird
The Superb Lyrebird is a pheasant-sized songbird, approximately 100cm long, with brown upper body plumage, grayish-brown below, rounded wings and strong legs...
. Eastern Whipbird
Eastern Whipbird
The Eastern Whipbird is an insectivorous passerine bird native to the east coast of Australia, its whip-crack call a familiar sound in forests of eastern Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Heard much more often than seen, it is a dark olive-green and black in colour with a distinctive white...
s, Eastern Bristlebird
Eastern Bristlebird
The Eastern Bristlebird is a species of bird in the Bristlebird family Dasyornithidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, and temperate grassland...
s, Crimson Rosella
Crimson Rosella
The Crimson Rosella is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The species as it now stands has subsumed two former separate species, the Yellow...
s, Australian King Parrot
Australian King Parrot
The Australian King Parrot is endemic to eastern Australia. It is found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest...
s and several kinds of honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s also inhabit the reserve.
The park has been identified by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
as an Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
(IBA) because it supports one of five remaining populations of Rufous Scrub-bird
Rufous Scrub-bird
The Rufous Scrub-bird is a bird species in the family Atrichornithidae. It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests...
s, as well as of Flame
Flame Robin
The Flame Robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Like the other two red-breasted Petroica robins—the Scarlet Robin and the Red-capped Robin—it is often simply but...
and Pale-yellow Robin
Pale-yellow Robin
The Pale-yellow Robin is a species of passerine bird in the Petroicidae family. It is endemic to eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is a non-descript bird with grey head and olive upperparts, white throat and yellow underparts. The sexes are...
s, Paradise Riflebird
Paradise Riflebird
The Paradise Riflebird, Ptiloris paradiseus, is a medium-sized, up to 30 cm long, passerine bird of the Paradisaeidae family. The male is black with an iridescent greenish blue crown, throat and central tail feathers. It has a black curved bill, black feet, dark brown iris and yellow mouth...
s, Green Catbird
Green Catbird
The Green Catbird, Ailuroedus crassirostris is a species of bowerbird found on subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. Its colouring is emerald green, with faint black markings on the face and white streaks on the neck.Green...
s, Regent Bowerbird
Regent Bowerbird
The Regent Bowerbird, Sericulus chrysocephalus is a medium-sized, up to 25 cm long, sexually dimorphic bowerbird. The male bird is black with a golden orange-yellow crown, mantle and black-tipped wing feathers. It has yellow bill, black feet and yellow iris...
s and Australian Logrunner
Australian Logrunner
The Australian Logrunner is a species of bird in the Orthonychidae family. It is endemic to eastern Australia...
s.
Facilities
There is an extensive walking track system that traverses the higher areas of the park.Limited accommodation is available in the park at Banksia Point
Banksia Point
Banksia Point is a point on a ridge overlooking the Bellinger River valley. It is located at 30° 29' S 152° 24' E, within the New England National Park on the Northern Tablelands in New South Wales, Australia....
. If visiting in winter it is a good idea to bring warm clothes because at such a high altitude the region experiences frequent snow falls and cold temperatures.
Yaraandoo Eco-Lodge Function Centre located about 500 metres in along the Point Lookout road also offers accommodation and conference facilities in a peaceful bush style setting.
See also
- Protected areas of New South WalesProtected areas of New South WalesThe Protected areas of New South Wales include both terrestrial and aquatic protected areas. At 30 June 2010 there were 776 separate terrestrial protected areas with a total land area of . 189 of these are national parks, totalling...