The Hon. James Griffin, Minister for Environment (NSW), Media Release, 6 November 2022

The NSW national park estate is expanding with an additional 1,300 hectares of land added to permanently protect important habitat for threatened and endangered species.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said the NSW Government’s commitment to conservation and biodiversity has seen more than 602,500 hectares secured for reservation since 2019.

“The latest additions to the NSW national park estate is another step towards protecting and conserving critical habitat for vulnerable species like koalas, powerful owls, swift parrots and squirrel gliders,” Mr Griffin said.

“These targeted pockets of land are now protecting land in the Hunter, Sydney and Riverina regions in perpetuity while offering habitat, wildlife corridors and food sources to more than 30 threatened species.

“Our national parks are incredibly important for protecting threatened species and areas of cultural significance, and they also play a significant role in the economy, receiving 60 million visits each year while supporting 74,000 jobs and driving $18 billion in economic activity.”

NSW national parks make a critical contribution to the Government’s conservation efforts, covering almost 9.5 per cent of NSW, providing habitat corridors and home to about 85 per cent of the State’s threatened and endangered species.

The latest additions to the national park estate include:

Hunter region

• Warrawolong Nature Reserve – 101 hectares, supporting at least 60 fauna species
• Tangory Nature Reserve – 503 hectares, supporting a sanctuary for more than 100 fauna species
• Tiraki Nature Reserve – 609 hectares, linking two regional wildlife corridors and protecting 18 threatened flora and fauna species recorded there, including the migratory and endangered swift parrot

Sydney

• Sydney’s Royal National Park – two hectares, supporting habitat suitable for the vulnerable eastern pygmy-possum

Riverina region

• Medowie State Conservation Area – 72 hectares, protecting critical habitat for koalas, squirrel gliders and masked owls
• Murrumbidgee Valley Regional Park – 12 hectares, protecting riverine habitat, including for the vulnerable superb parrot.

For more information on how new parks are created, visit the NPWS website.