Protected area in New South Wales, Australia
The
Benambra National Park
is a
protected
national park
that is located 30 kilometres (19 mi) north-east of
Albury
, 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-east of
Culcairn
, and 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of
Holbrook, New South Wales
, in the
South West Slopes
region of
New South Wales
, Australia.
[3]
The park is almost entirely surrounded by private land, however access can be gained by contacting the
National Parks & Wildlife Service
.
History
[
edit
]
Benambra National Park was initially declared a forest reserve in 1879, and in May 1918 it was reclassified as
state forest
.
[4]
[3]
The national park was gazetted in 2001, to protect remnant areas of
White Box
and
Red Box
woodlands, which have been extensively cleared across New South Wales.
[1]
The park has a history of use for grazing and small scale timber harvesting for firewood and fencing.
[3]
In 1985 the entire park was burnt, after a lightning strike started a fire north-west of the reserve, which then burnt through park and stopped on a property adjacent to the eastern boundary of the park.
[3]
Features
[
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]
Benambra National Park is situated at the northern end of the
Great Yambla Range
, a prominent 23 kilometres (14 mi) long outcrop of cliff faces and flat-topped peaks, which forms part of the
Lachlan Fold Belt
.
[3]
The park has an altitudinal range between 328 metres (1,076 ft) and 646 metres (2,119 ft)
above sea level
, covering steeply sloping hills, with only the north-eastern section of the national park being on relatively flat, low-lying country.
[3]
A large cave known as 'Morgan's Cave' exists within the park, which was reputedly used in the 1860s as a refuge by the notorious
bushranger
Dan Morgan
.
[3]
Access
[
edit
]
The park is almost entirely surrounded by private land.
[3]
There is no public vehicle access to the park, however access to the park for activities such as bushwalking and birdwatching, can be gained by contacting the
National Parks & Wildlife Service
office in
Tumut
.
[3]
[1]
Flora
[
edit
]
The park comprises several vegetation communities.
[5]
Red Box
-
White Box
-Dry Shrub Open Forest makes up 69 percent of the park, Red Box-
Long-leaved Box
Grassy Forest makes up 8 percent, Red Box Swampy Flat Woodland makes up 7 percent,
Dwyer's Red Gum
-
Black Cypress Pine
Grass Woodland makes up 5 percent, and 2 percent is
Currawang Wattle
-
Drooping She-oak
Shrubland.
[5]
Woolly ragwort
, listed as
Vulnerable
in NSW under the
Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016
,
[6]
occurs within Benambra National Park.
[3]
[5]
Invasive plants found in the park include
St. John's wort
,
Paterson's curse
and
Tree of Heaven
.
[3]
Fauna
[
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]
Threatened birds recorded in the park include
Black-chinned honeyeater
,
Regent honeyeater
,
Grey-crowned babbler
,
Hooded robin
,
Diamond firetail
,
Painted honeyeater
,
Swift parrot
,
Turquoise parrot
,
Brown treecreeper
, and
Speckled warbler
.
[3]
[5]
Threatened mammals recorded in the park include
Southeastern long-eared bat
,
Squirrel glider
,
Eastern pygmy possum
and
Yellow-footed antechinus
.
[3]
[5]
Reptiles found in the park include the
Yellow-faced whipsnake
.
[7]
Several
introduced pest species
occur, including the
European fox
,
feral goat
,
feral cat
and
European rabbit
.
[3]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
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Central West & Orana
| |
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Far West
| |
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Hunter & Central Coast
| |
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Illawarra-Shoalhaven
| |
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New England-North West
| |
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North Coast
| |
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Riverina-Murray
| |
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Southeast & Tablelands
| |
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Sydney & Surrounds
| |
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|