Nature NSW – Page 25 – National Parks Association of NSW

Wollemi National Park’s Hidden Cultural Treasures

Posted by NPA NSWon May 30, 2020June 2, 2020in Winter 2020Leave a comment

Mark Roebuck, NPA member and bushwalker

Australia’s Aboriginal Rock Art is of World Heritage significance. Many people are familiar with the spectacular rock art of Northern Australia. It is a lesser known fact that similar treasures lay on the doorstep of Sydney’s large population centres. Wollemi National Park consists of 5,000 square kilometres of rugged and difficult to access, trackless terrain. It is rich in Aboriginal art and other cultural sites. Many of these sites have only recently been re-discovered. Many more remain in obscurity, lost to knowledge (waiting to be found) due to the forced cultural disconnection of the Aboriginal custodians and protected by the rugged wilderness.

Bushfire Impacts in the South-East Forests

Posted by NPA NSWon May 29, 2020in Winter 2020Leave a comment

Kim Taysom, Far South Coast Branch

The South East Forests National Park (the Park) straddles the Bega Valley and Snowy Monaro Shires and comprises around 130,000 hectares of escarpment forests inland from Eden, Merimbula and Bega.

In terms of area burnt, the recent fires are unprecedented. The Bega Valley Shire had 58% of its area burnt, with the forested areas being the hardest hit. To put this in historical context, past fires which have burnt 10% of a shire’s area have been deemed significant events.

Book Review: The Enchantment of the Long-haired Rat, a Rodent History of Australia

Posted by NPA NSWon May 29, 2020June 1, 2020in Nature NSW, Winter 2020Leave a comment

Author: Tim Bonyhady | Publisher: Text Publishing 2019 | Reviewed by Helen Wilson, Illawarra Branch

Bonyhady has a wide range of expertise as historian, cultural critic, environmentalist and lawyer. I loved his last book Good Living Street, about his Viennese Jewish family’s pre World War 2 history, which came out in 2011. The Enchantment of the Long-Tailed Rat is a return to environmental themes, but with the same openness to a variety of sources and nose for revealing stories.