Wellington National Park

Wellington National Park is a national park in Western Australia, located 10 kilometres (6 mi) west of Collie and approximately 215 km (134 mi) south of Perth in the Shire of Collie along the Coalfields Highway.

Wellington National Park
Western Australia
IUCN category II (national park)
Wellington Dam is found within the park
Wellington National Park
Nearest town or cityCollie
Coordinates33°19′14″S 115°58′46″E
Established2000[1]
Area17,000 ha (42,000 acres)[2]
Visitation212,000 (in 2015-2016)[3]
Managing authoritiesParks and Wildlife Service
See alsoList of protected areas of
Western Australia
Collie River and riparian vegetation

Description

The 17,000 ha (42,000-acre) park has a hilly terrain and is intersected by streams;[4] the Collie River valley is in the middle of the park, as is Wellington Dam. The park is within the Yilgarn Craton geological province composed of belts of metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks, including large areas of granite.[1]

Facilities

Potter's Gorge has a camping area at the edge of a lake, catering for tents and caravans. There are also barbeques, picnic tables and multi-access toilets. Honeymoon Pool also has a camping area and the river is safe for swimming and canoeing. There are picnic tables, barbeques, fire pits with wood supplied and toilets. A boardwalk and platform are built on the river bank for ease of access and there are several walk trails throughout the area. The area around Wellington Dam has a kiosk and a camping area.[5]

History

The park increased in size from 4,300 ha (11,000 acres) to 17,000 ha (42,000 acres) under the Labor state government's 2001 "Protecting our old-growth forests" policy.[6] The land now occupied by the park was formerly owned by the Worsley Timber Company. It was gazetted as a class A reserve and set aside for the purpose of "national park" in 2000. An additional 13,745 ha (33,960 acres) of State forest No. 25 was included into the Park in December 2004, increasing the total area to 16,790 ha (41,500 acres).[1]

Flora

The park is within the Jarrah Forest bioregion[1] and is predominantly composed of unique Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah), Corymbia calophylla (marri) and Eucalyptus patens (yarri or blackbutt) forests.[2] Species found commonly as part of the understorey include Banksia grandis (bull banksia), Allocasuarina fraseriana (sheoak), Bossiaea aquifolium (waterbush), Persoonia longifolia (snottygobble) and Xanthorrhoea preissii (grasstree).[1]

Fauna

The park provides habitat for a range of fauna; 66 species of birds are found within the park. Endangered species found in the park include the chuditch, western ringtail possum, quokka, brush-tailed phascogale, woylie, carpet python, peregrine falcon, red-tailed black cockatoo, Carnaby's black cockatoo and Baudin's cockatoo.[1]

See also

References
  1. "Wellington National Park, Westralia Conservation Park and Wellington Discovery Forest Management Plan 2008" (PDF). Department of Environment and Conservation. 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. "Wellington National Park". Explore Parks WA. Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. Saxon Durrant (16 December 2016). "Wellington National Park receives $2.8 million dollar boost". WA Today. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  4. "Wellington National Park". Western Australia Now and Them. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. Gen Adams (22 October 2013). "Wellington National Park". Weekend Notes. Oat Labs.
  6. "Local comment sought on future management of Wellington National Park". Media Statements. Government of Western Australia. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
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