David Stead, President Sydney Region Branch
Yiraaldiya National Park lies on the Cumberland Plain in western Sydney, around 40 km north‑west of the Sydney CBD. Formerly known as Shanes Park Reserve, its name was chosen with input from the Darug people and originates from an 1899 record describing the area between South Creek and Eastern Creek as Yiraaldiya.
From radio transmitters to protected reserve
For most of the twentieth century the site operated as the Llandilo International Transmitter Station for Airservices Australia and its forerunners, a use that inadvertently kept the land free of urban development and allowed native vegetation to flourish. After the transmitters were decommissioned in 2005 the land was transferred to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in 2020.
Australia’s first urban predator‑proof sanctuary
The first proposal for predator-proof fencing in an urban setting was planned to be introduced to the Castlereagh, Agnes Banks and Windsor Downs Nature Reserves through a 2021 draft amendment to the Plan of Management (POM). Following feedback on the POM from the NPA Sydney Region Branch demonstrating the location was unsuitable, the NPWS changed it to Yiraaldiya National Park, a much better site.
Yiraaldiya is the only site in Greater Sydney included in NSW’s feral‑predator‑free network and the first fully fenced rewilding reserve within a major Australian city. A double‑layered conservation fence was rolled out in two stages:
- Stage 1 (completed in 2023) encloses a 56 ha pilot area to refine eradication and monitoring techniques.
- Stage 2 (completed in July 2025) places the entire 555 ha park behind a predator‑proof barrier to keep out foxes, feral cats and wild dogs.
Re-creating a lost menagerie
Once cats and foxes were removed, NPWS began an ambitious rewilding program aimed at reinstating up to 30 locally extinct or declining species. Early milestones include:
- 2023 Eastern bettongs return: First group of males released into the 56 ha enclosure, sourced from the ACT, are the first appearance of the species in NSW since 1906.
- 2024 Koalas released: Three Koalas fitted with solar GPS collars, re-establishing a disease-free and genetically diverse population, are showing good weight gain and body condition.
- 2024 New Holland mouse: 18 radio tagged individuals introduced with data showing good results.
Upcoming translocations already approved or in planning include eastern quolls, southern long‑nosed bandicoots, brush‑tailed phascogales, brown antechinus, bush stone‑curlews, emus and up to 20 reptile and frog species, making Yiraaldiya one of the world’s largest urban wildlife restoration projects.
Science‑led recovery
Each release is backed by detailed translocation plans, genetics screening and intensive telemetry. Bettongs are ecosystem engineers that turn over tonnes of soil a year; koalas provide a disease‑free source population for wider Cumberland Plain recovery; and the tiny New Holland mouse aids seed dispersal. Early ecosystem monitoring is already detecting increases in litter turnover, fungal spore counts and small‑insect abundance within the fenced core, compared with control sites outside.
What’s next?
- Visitor & research hub: A redundant transmitter maintenance shed is redeveloped into an interpretation centre for school programs.
- Long‑term vision: The park will act as a stepping stone supplying surplus animals to other restoration sites, while building community stewardship through citizen engagement, indigenous cultural connection, and ongoing science.
In a disappointing move, the recent draft Plan of Management has taken a dramatic deviation from the detailed and useful management practices we are accustomed to in other National Parks. The Sydney Region Branch has provided what we hope is an informative, and strong condemnation, in response to the draft Plan of Management, referred to as a plan for a plan, something that should not become the norm for state-wide National Parks.
By combining predator exclusion technology, large‑scale translocations and a location inside Australia’s largest urban area, Yiraaldiya National Park is setting a template for urban conservation that matches ecological ambition with public engagement, demonstrating that even in fast‑growing cities, extinction is not inevitable, and recovery can be spectacular. We hope the Plan of Management (in its final form) will reflect these ambitions for natural recovery, over what was presented as a theme park for tourist enjoyment.
(Image sourced from NPWS, attached SRB Response to the Yiraaldiya NP draft POM)
Further reading
Sydney Region Branch response to Yiraaldiya draft PoM (Subm 2025-06-02 Yiraaldiya NP PoM [Syd Reg Br].pdf)