The NSW Government, with support from The Nature Conservancy, has acquired 3 stations totalling 37,422 hectares located 150 km north-west of Bourke: Comeroo, Muttawary and Maranoa (known collectively as Comeroo).
The purchase secures connectivity for conservation across more than 100,000 hectares when combined with nearby Brindingabba National Park and properties Yantabulla and Naree, which have in perpetuity private lands conservation agreements with the Biodiversity Conservation Trust.
Over one-quarter of the property, almost 10,000 hectares, stretches across Yantabulla Swamp – regarded as among Australia's most important wetlands and internationally recognised as an Important Bird Area.
Yantabulla Swamp hosts thousands of internationally protected migratory shorebirds and up to 50,000 waterbirds, including threatened freckled ducks, pink-eared ducks, grey teals, night herons, and many other species. Yantabulla Swamp remains in excellent ecological condition, largely unaffected by upstream water resource development.
Comeroo is located in the Mulga Lands bioregion, which has some of the poorest levels of protection in New South Wales. Three endangered ecological communities cover one-third of Comeroo, including the critically endangered Artesian Springs Ecological Community in the Great Artesian Basin.
The property features diverse habitats, from alluvial floodplains and swamps with permanent waterholes to a mosaic of grasslands, shrublands, wetlands, and woodlands.
At least 13 known threatened species will benefit from permanently protecting the area. These include the stripe-faced dunnart, ringed brown snake, black-breasted buzzard, brolga, pink cockatoo, little eagle and Hall's babbler.
Comeroo lies in the traditional shared country of the Budjiti, Kunja, Gurnu Baakandji and Muruwari people and is extraordinarily rich in Aboriginal sites. The National Parks and Wildlife Service will proudly work with Aboriginal communities to support protecting these important cultural sites.
We will be undertaking key programs such as feral animal and weed control, fire management, asset works, key conservation and Aboriginal cultural projects, and developing visitor experiences. An appropriate name for the park will also be considered as part of the statutory reservation process.
Planning will progress over the next 12 months while the property transitions from the current owners to National Parks and Wildlife Service management. The park is set to become an exciting stop for visitors across a must-see network of western New South Wales national parks, with the park expected to be open to the public in late 2024.
The purchase of Comeroo involved a partnership between the NSW Government and the Nature Conservancy Australia, who brokered a contribution from The Wyss Foundation.
Key facts
- Comeroo is 37,422 hectares.
- Located 150 kilometres north-west of Bourke in the traditional shared country of the Budjiti Parunti, Kunja, Gurnu Baakandji and Muruwari people.
- The acquisition of Comeroo is part of a major public-private conservation initiative that will protect a contiguous area of 101,725 hectares – linking 2 national parks, Comeroo and Brindingabba (33,903 hectares), and 2 properties with conservation agreements with Biodiversity Conservation Trust (Naree (14,400 hectares) and Yantabulla (16,000 hectares)
- the Nature Conservancy has contributed around 17% of the purchase price, supported by the Wyss Foundation.
- Comeroo protects one of Australia's most important wetlands – 9,660 hectares of the Yantabulla Swamp
- Yantabulla Swamp is a mosaic of channels and wetlands in the Cuttaburra basin connecting 2 iconic rivers – the Bullo and the Paroo rivers. The area is considered the healthiest floodplain system in the Murray Darling Basin.
- Yantabulla Swamp is identified as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International. It hosts thousands of internationally protected migratory shorebirds as well as up to 50,000 waterbirds, including pink-eared ducks, freckled ducks, grey teals, night herons and many other species.
- Comeroo protects at least 13 threatened species including the stripe-faced dunnart, ringed brown snake, black-breasted buzzard, brolga, pink cockatoo, little eagle and Hall's babbler.
- The property contains an exceptional diversity of habitats, including alluvial floodplains, a network of streams, channels and wetlands, grasslands, stony desert shrublands and gibber plains, and woodlands of poplar box and desert bloodwood.
- Almost one-third of the property is covered by threatened ecological communities, including Coolibah-Black box woodland, Brigalow-Gidgee woodland/shrubland and critically endangered Artesian Springs.
- Comeroo contains extensive Aboriginal cultural sites, including wells, waterholes, stone arrangements, widespread artefact scatters and scarred trees.
- The acquisition fills important gaps in the national park estate:
- Comeroo is in the Mulga Lands bioregion, of which only 6.6% is in the national park estate
- Comeroo straddles 3 poorly reserved subregions
- Comeroo protects 10 sub-landscapes, including 2 that are not protected at the subregional level
- the property contains 28 ecosystems (plant community types).
- The property is set to become a must-see tourist destination as part of a network of national parks in western New South Wales. Across New South Wales, national parks generate around $18 billion in economic activity every year, with 75% of these benefits in regional New South Wales.
- Once Comeroo and other recently acquired lands are reserved, the NSW national parks estate will cover over 8.24 million hectares and over 10.3% of the state.
