Booderee National Park News
John Harvey and Louise Bargwanna of Booderee National Park with Barry Baillie (centre), CEO, CCIA, and Lorraine Ardler and Morgan Brown of Booderee National Park at the CCIA Awards of Excellence.
Reconstructing the Cave Beach lookout after the 2007 bushfire.
A whale off the coast of Booderee.
Photo: C MacGregor
Bandicoot numbers are high, in response to the fox baiting efforts.
Eastern Bristle bird
Waratahs in Booderee
Workers demolish the old Telegraph Creek weir
White-footed Dunnart
Giant burrowing frog
Caves Beach lookout
Booderee National Park wins prestigious 2008 NSW Indigenous Tourism award
21.11.08
Booderee National Park last night won the prestigious 2008 NSW Indigenous Tourism award.
The award was presented at a gala ceremony in Sydney last night before 700 people representing the cream of the NSW Tourism industry.
Booderee is owned by Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and jointly managed with the Australian Government. More information
Awards for Booderee's clean beaches
18.11.08
Booderee National Park has garnered a clutch of awards in the South Coast Keep Australia Beautiful Clean Beach Challenge.
Booderee’s stunning Green Patch Beach is the overall winner of the cleanest south coast beach. Green Patch has also won the Remondis Resource Management Award, in recognition of the park’s success in reducing its carbon footprint by cutting energy and water use and increasing its recycling. More information
Booderee wins environmental innovation award
Booderee National Park has been declared one of the 'greenest' parks in New South Wales, taking out the 2008 Environmental Innovation commendation award at a ceremony in Wollongong last week. The award from the NSW Caravan and Camping Industry Association - through their Travel'N Green program - recognises Booderee's great work to reduce its carbon footprint. In the last year Booderee has pulled out all the stops to cut back water and energy use and maximise recycling as part of its new initiative 'Thinking Green - we can make a BIG difference working together'.
Visitor Services Manager John Harvey says Thinking Green has already cut water use by 50 per cent and energy use by 40 per cent in Booderee's campgrounds. "Thinking Green is our way of making a difference locally that contributes to the bigger picture, and visitors and staff have really got behind it," John said. "This Environmental Innovation award is fantastic recognition of what we've achieved so far, and it gives us a real boost as we keep thinking green into the future."
Murray's boat ramp upgrades
Murray's boat ramp was closed for repairs from Monday 2 June 2008 to Friday 6 June 2008. This work is part of a staged program by Booderee National Park to upgrade the boat ramp by replacing aged and damaged concrete slabs. The work will increase the life of this very popular boat ramp and improve its safety and accessibility.
Earth Hour - 8pm 29 March 2008
Booderee National Park is participating in 'Earth Hour' - turning off lights for one hour to promote a message about the need for action on global warming. If you are staying at Green Patch or Bristol Point on Saturday 29 March 2008, you will be participating in Earth Hour. Last year more than 2.2 million residents in Sydney participated in Earth hour. This year, Earth Hour has gone global with 24 cities world wide involved. Booderee is part of this international move to reverse global warming.
Looking after visitor at Booderee
The bushfire last year unfortunately destroyed the Cave Beach lookout. Wreck Bay Enterprises (WBEL) is the commercial arm of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and their skilful builders have been rebuilding the lookout. The lookout will soon be finished and will provide visitors magnificent views from Cave Beach around to St Georges Head.
Meanwhile at Murray's boat ramp car park the capable WBEL Roads Department crew have been upgrading drainage in the turnaround area where cars and boat trailers stop before and after launching. These works will further improve facilities for boaters who enjoy the crystal clear protected waters of Booderee National Park.
Booderee makes plans to reduce carbon footprint
Booderee National Park has recently developed a project plan for the Carbon Footprint Program. The program aims to minimise the carbon footprint of the Park and the Jervis Bay Territory through power and water conservation measures and other ecologically sustainable practices.
Booderee recovers after wildfires
Recently sections of Booderee National Park closed due to wildfires. The park has re-opened and all public areas throughout the park are accessible, including the Botanic Gardens and all camping areas. The wildfires have not impacted on the popular northern areas of the park.
Whale Watching
Spring is the best time to spot whales frolicking in sheltered bays around Booderee National Park. The best place to spot a whale is from the Ruined Lighthouse in the late morning or early afternoon on a clear and calm day, from September to November. It is possible to spot many whales in one day, as they migrate with their calves to the Antarctic. To find out more, download the Whale Watching Brochure.
Fox News
The fox control program is continuing and has reached a very interesting point.
The entire park was baited in September 2005 and adjacent New South Wales National Park areas were baited in October 2005. The interesting result is that not one bait was taken by a fox during this time. This indicates that there are now very low fox numbers in the park, demonstrating the success of the program. More significantly, we have had no bait taken across the park border, indicated that there are likely to be only low fox numbers moving through these areas into the park.
Bird News
The park has been conducting surveys of the endangered birds, Eastern Bristle bird and Oystercatcher. The Bristlebirds have responded extremely well after the big fires in 2003 with numbers returning to pre-fire levels and found in habitats right across the park. The Oystercatchers are currently nesting on Bowen Island and in other parts of the bay.
Beautiful Waratahs
Of great concern is the taking of Waratah flowers that occurred in August 2005. It was a particularly good season for flowering as a result of the fire in December 2003. The resources team set about mapping the flowering extent and was shocked to see such large numbers of flowers illegally removed from the park. It is important for the conservation of the Waratahs in Booderee that flowering is allowed to progress to seed set.
Green Patch to Bristol Point Nature Trail
Following recent improvements to the Telegraph Creek and Old Lighthouse walking tracks, our focus is now on the nature trail between Green Patch and Bristol Point. This popular track suffered considerable fire damage in December 2003.
With the involvement and support of many people, including civil engineering advice, the work team has demolished the old Telegraph Creek weir. The variety of skills within the team will be fully utilised with this challenging project as they will remove the old bridge along this track and install a new bridge and boardwalk. Further work will be undertaken to improve the track generally.
The end result will be an excellent walking facility for residents, campers and day visitors alike. With appropriate signage, this track will also be a terrific resource for interpreting the natural and cultural heritage of the park.
Dunnart – not done with just yet!
Earlier this year, there was terrific excitement when a Research Team from the Australian National University (Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies - CRES) caught a little known carnivorous marsupial, the White-footed Dunnart. It has not been recorded in Booderee since one specimen was caught in 1980. The species has a relatively small range in south eastern NSW and is sparsely and patchily distributed. It is listed as vulnerable on the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. The re-emergence of the Dunnart in Booderee may be a result of our very intensive fox baiting program.
Frog News
The CRES team caught a giant burrowing frog in a pitfall bucket recently. This is a native frog - an endangered species and rarely seen anywhere because they mostly live underground. Unfortunately they have been mistaken for cane toads in the past. They grow up to 9cm. Native frogs can easily be harmed by diseases and chemical residues that may be on your hands. If you have to handle a native frog, make sure that your hands or gloves are clean and wet.
Surf's up at Caves Beach lookout
Wreck Bay Enterprises Limited (WBEL) and Booderee workers have begun the long awaited upgrade to the best surf lookout on the South Coast also providing disabled access. Please understand that any disturbance to your regular ‘reckie' of the swell will be well worthwhile during the installation of the new walkway. This work will be followed by sensitive but effective vegetation control to return the panoramic vista of the beach and sets which has been very overgrown for sometime.
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