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Report
Health check-up for Australia’s oldest national park
Australian Community Media
Follow
7/26/2024
The Royal National Park, Heathcote and Garawarra reserves have received an EcoHealth scorecard. Video via NSW Parks and Wildlife Service.
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Transcript
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00:00
In 1879, Royal became Australia's very first national park.
00:08
Nearly 150 years later, Royal National Park is on the doorstep of the country's largest
00:13
city.
00:14
It's a great place to visit and a vital refuge for wildlife.
00:16
To help protect Royal into the future, we've undertaken the first comprehensive audit of
00:21
its ecological health.
00:22
A first in the world, a first in New South Wales and a first for New South Wales National
00:26
Parks and Wildlife Service.
00:28
We're measuring populations of native species, including threatened wildlife like pygmy
00:32
possums and koalas, as well as vegetation.
00:35
We're measuring the extent of threats, such as the number of feral foxes and deer, and
00:40
the areas affected by weeds and the impacts of wildfires.
00:43
We're also measuring water quality and soil health.
00:46
Measuring eco-health is a massive scientific exercise.
00:50
At Royal, it involved NPWS ecologists setting up a network of 40 monitoring sites across
00:55
the park.
00:56
Each site has four camera traps and acoustic recorders, and also dedicated bird, bat and
01:01
vegetation surveys, collectively gathering a huge amount of information about the reserves.
01:06
There were over 1 million camera trap images in total, 2,600 bird records captured, and
01:13
there's over 2,000 records of plants that have been recorded as well as part of the
01:17
program.
01:18
The results are in, and we've now published the first ever ecological health performance
01:23
scorecard.
01:24
That has some good news.
01:25
Royal is a stronghold for the threatened pygmy possum and for our bats.
01:29
We've recorded some species for the first time in Royal, such as Kreff's glider and
01:34
yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat.
01:36
There are few weeds away from the disturbed areas, and water quality is mostly good, and
01:40
there are some challenges.
01:42
Fox activity is high, and there are high numbers of deer in some parts of the park.
01:47
There are likely six mammal species that have disappeared since European settlement.
01:51
Some of those we might be able to reintroduce, as we did with the platypus.
01:55
Importantly, the scorecard results are already improving the way we manage Royal.
01:59
We have increased fox baiting and deer control, and will focus our energies on key areas.
02:04
We are looking at new ways to address issues like myrtle rust, and our fire management
02:09
will be better informed than ever.
02:11
This type of systematic monitoring will now happen on a regular basis, providing a clear
02:15
picture of how the health of Royal is changing over time.
02:19
This is a world-leading initiative, which we are rolling out across almost a third of
02:23
our national parks estate.
02:24
It is a big investment in science to ensure New South Wales has the best managed parks
02:29
in the world.
02:30
This degree and intensity of monitoring is actually a missing piece for reserve management
02:35
right across the globe, and for New South Wales to be leading the way in this program
02:39
is incredibly important, and it's an incredibly exciting program to be involved in as a park
02:44
manager.
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