A vast tract of land in the far north-west corner of New South Wales is being protected in perpetuity as a new national park by the State Government.
The 437,394-hectare site at Thurloo between Tibooburra and Bourke will become the third largest national park in New South Wales and a major new tourism drawcard for the region.
“This is the largest ever single parcel of land to be acquired for the national park estate in New South Wales,” Premier Dominic Perrottet said. “It will provide yet another reason for people to venture out and explore this part of the state, driving tourism dollars in the region and at every stop along the way.”
He said the economic benefits would be far reaching, with national parks contributing around $18 billion and 74,000 jobs to the state economy every year, with three-quarters of that going directly to regional areas.
The new nationl park will become the third largest national park in New South Wales. PIC: NSW Government
Minister for Environment James Griffin said the acquisition of Thurloo protects globally significant wetlands, vast outback ecosystems, and provides a haven for about 50 threatened species.
“Securing a site this big for addition to our national park estate is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the people of New South Wales,” Mr Griffin said. “We want this park to be a drawcard for visitors and an asset to the entire local community … far from keeping people out, we’ll invest in the jobs and infrastructure to welcome people in to walk, explore, camp and see what a beautiful part of the landscape it is.”
He said that, when combined with the adjacent Narrieara-Caryapundy National Park and the nearby Sturt National Park, the state’s national parks now protect an almost completely connected area of about one million hectares west to the South Australia border.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) will engage additional staff to manage the property and deliver $4 million in capital works to support park management and visitor infrastructure such as campgrounds, day-use areas, observation points and outback driving routes.
It will use the next two years to ramp up feral animal and weed control as part of the largest ever feral pest control program in NPWS history, undertake ecological surveys and plan visitor infrastructure while the property transitions from pastoral station to national park.
The new park is expected to open to visitors from 2025.
Are you a Grey Nomad member yet? Click here to find out about the discounts, competitions and other benefits on offer.
Amazing, different and beautiful country out that way..
and lots and lots of stones and gibber country far as the eye can see..!
You need to be well prepared when travelling to that remote country. No phone reception in most of it & your rig needs to have real “off road” capability.
Fantastic!
Congratulations to the State Govt. for saving this land for our flora and fauna. It will certainly draw tourism dollars to the area as we tend to travel from N.P. to N.P. to see what our magnificent country has to offer.
My heart is singing.
Now that the road to Tibooburra has been sealed, the likelihood and usefulness of more visitors there is high. Personally, we prefer the “Cut Line Rd.” from Bourke.