Towra Point Nature Reserve
Towra Point Nature Reserve New South Wales | |
---|---|
![]() Aerial photograph of Towra Point and surrounding waters. | |
Nearest town or city | Sydney |
Coordinates | 34°00′23″S 151°09′55″E / 34.00639°S 151.16528°E |
Established | August 1982[1] |
Area | 6.03 km2 (2.3 sq mi)[1] |
Managing authorities | NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service |
Website | Towra Point Nature Reserve |
Footnotes | |
Official name | Towra Point |
Designated | 21 February 1984 |
Reference no. | 286[2] |
See also | Protected areas of New South Wales |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Towra_Point_Nature_Reserve_201708.jpg/250px-Towra_Point_Nature_Reserve_201708.jpg)
The Towra Point Nature Reserve is a
History
Kurnell was inhabited by the
In the 1960s, movement began to preserve Towra Point led initially by the President of Sutherland Shire,
Following lobbying by
In 1981, another oil spill occurred at the Matraville refinery, causing more damage to the mangroves.
In 1990, the Elephant's Trunk was eroded so much that the tip broke off into an island. By this time, Towra Beach was so eroded that trees that were part of the forest were "tumbling into the water".
In 2003, it was proposed to undertake
In 2010, artificial roosting posts were installed by the Office of Environment & Heritage to supplement the roosting habitat in the area.
Habitats
Towra Point,
In 2001, the mangrove forests of Towra Point were described as varying in width between tens and hundreds of metres and largely consisting of the grey mangrove Avicennia marina with the river mangrove Aegiceras corniculatum growing in patches along the edge of the forest closest to the landward edge.[33]
Species
Towra Point Nature Reserve is home to many endangered, vulnerable, protected and exotic species. This list is from the NSW Government's Environment and Heritage department website – a comprehensive listing, including numbers, scientific names, and protection status, can be found at this link.[34]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/View_of_Towra_Point_Nature_Reserve.jpg/220px-View_of_Towra_Point_Nature_Reserve.jpg)
Birds
- Yellow thornbill
- Brown thornbill
- Striated fieldwren
- Chestnut-rumped heathwren
- Mangrove gerygone
- Brown gerygone
- White-browed scrubwren
- Brown goshawk
- Grey goshawk
- Swamp harrier
- Black-shouldered kite
- White-bellied sea eagle
- Chestnut teal
- Grey teal
- Australasian shoveler
- Black swan
- Pacific black duck
- Hardhead
- Musk duck
- Australian wood duck
- Australian shelduck
- Australasian darter
- Oriental darter
- Great egret
- Cattle egret
- Intermediate egret
- Little egret
- White-faced heron
- Eastern reef egret
- Grey butcherbird
- Pied currawong
- Bush stone-curlew
- Black-faced cuckooshrike
- Double-banded plover
- Greater sand plover
- Pacific golden plover
- Grey plover
- White-throated treecreeper
- Bar-shouldered dove
- Dollarbird
- Australian raven
- Fan-tailed cuckoo
- Shining bronze cuckoo
- Spangled drongo
- Leaden flycatcher
- Grey fantail
- Willie wagtail
- Red-browed finch
- Australian hobby
- Peregrine falcon
- Sooty oystercatcher
- Australian pied oystercatcher
- Sacred kingfisher
- Welcome swallow
- Silver gull
- Little tern
- Crested tern
- Caspian tern
- Arctic tern
- Superb fairywren
- Variegated fairywren
- Southern emu-wren
- Eastern spinebill
- Little wattlebird
- White-fronted chat
- Brown honeyeater
- New Holland honeyeater
- Australian pipit
- Eurasian blackbird
- Grey shrike-thrush
- Rufous whistler
- Spotted pardalote
- Australian pelican
- Eastern yellow robin
- Little pied cormorant
- Little black cormorant
- Great cormorant
- Pied cormorant
- Stubble quail
- Hoary-headed grebe
- Blue-winged parrot
- Eastern rosella
- Crimson rosella
- Red-whiskered bulbul
- Lewin's rail
- Sharp-tailed sandpiper
- Curlew sandpiper
- Great knot
- Bar-tailed godwit
- Eastern curlew
- Little curlew
- Eurasian whimbrel
- Common greenshank
- Common starling
- Golden-headed cisticola
- Royal spoonbill
- Glossy ibis
- Australian white ibis
- Painted buttonquail
- Silvereye
- Whistling kite
- Striated heron
- Australian magpie
- Sulphur-crested cockatoo
- Galah
- Masked lapwing
- Mistletoebird
- Magpie-lark
- Restless flycatcher
- Kookaburra
- Kelp gull
- Yellow-faced honeyeater
- Lewin's honeyeater
- White-naped honeyeater
- Olive-backed oriole
- Golden whistler
- House sparrow
- Rose robin
- Tawny frogmouth
- Rainbow lorikeet
- Southern boobook
- Common myna
- Tawny grassbird
- Australian masked owl
- Brown quail
- Great crested grebe
- Australasian grebe
- Rock dove
- Brown cuckoo-dove
- Crested pigeon
- Spotted turtle dove
- White-throated needletail
- Little penguin
- Australasian bittern
- Nankeen night heron
Amphibians
- Green and golden bell frog
- Keferstein's tree frog
- Common eastern froglet
- Striped marsh frog
- Peron's tree frog
- Jervis Bay tree frog
Mammals
Reptiles
- Jacky lashtail
- Eastern snake-necked turtle
- Red-bellied black snake
- Eastern small-eyed snake
- Black-bellied swamp snake
- Dark-flecked garden sunskink
- Pale-flecked garden sunskink
- Yellow-bellied three-toed skink
- Eastern bluetongue
- Robust ctenotus
- Eastern water-skink
- Barred-sided skink
- Weasel skink
Plants
- Grey mangrove
- Sickle fern
- New Zealand spinach
- Parrot alstroemeria
- Fennel
- Moth vine
- Milk vine
- Common silkpod
- Fruit salad plant
- Arum lily
- English ivy
- Asparagus fern
- Bridal creeper
- Crofton weed
- Cobbler's pegs
- Boneseed
- Bitou bush
- Swamp oak
- Native wandering jew
- Tree broom-heath
- Coffee bush
- Wombat berry
- rusty fig
- Cockspur thorn
- Muttonwood
- Swamp paperbark
- Broad-leaved paperbark
- Pixie caps
- Inkweed
- Sweet pittosporum
- Pampas grass
- Panic veldtgrass
- Rambling dock
- Coastal banksia
- Tuckeroo
- Slender grape
- Lantana
- Nightshade
- Black-berry
- Wild olive
- Samphire
- Magenta lilly pilly
Human effects
The ecosystem surrounding Towra Point has been impacted as a result of human interaction.
Positive effects
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Towra_point.jpg/400px-Towra_point.jpg)
Humans can maximise the area of healthy, functioning intertidal wetlands by minimising their impacts and by developing management strategies that protect, and where possible rehabilitate these ecosystems at risk.
The following are positive ways of trying to protect or rehabilitate intertidal wetlands.
- Exclusion – Those responsible for the management of wetland areas often facilitate public access to a small, designated area while restricting access to other areas. Provision of defined boardwalks and walkways is a management strategy used to restrict access to vulnerable areas, as is the issuing of permits whilst visiting Towra Point Nature Reserve.
- Education – In the past, wetlands were regarded as waste-lands. Education campaigns have helped to change public perceptions and foster public support for the wetlands. Due to their location in the water catchment area, education programs need to teach about total catchment management programs. Educational programs include guided tours for the general public, school visits, media liaison, information centres, conference presentations, interpretive signage, publications and facts sheets. Staff should also include education officers.
- Action – too little is known about the intertidal wetland system to successfully reinstate all natural conditions. Management plans focus on the rehabilitation of the site and the removal of human-induced stresses. For example, fox and rabbit baiting, removal of weeds (at Weedy Pond).
- Design – Design interventions have proved successful in minimising sources of natural stress. At Towra Point Beach, for example, there is a sandbag wall to help prevent salt water from leaking into the fresh-water Towra Lagoon.
- Legislation – Legislation and regulations are used to protect Towra Point Wetlands. Conventions that Australia has signed in regard to Towra Point Wetlands are the Ramsar Convention, the Japan–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement and the China–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA). Legislation that Australia and New South Wales have passed in regard to Towra Point Wetlands are the Australian Wetlands Policy, the New South Wales Wetlands Management Policy (1996) and the State and Environmental Planning Policy 14 on Coastal Wetlands.
Negative effects
- Changed wind patterns – due to high-rise near some wetland areas e.g. Bicentennial Park South, at Rockdale.[citation needed]
- Alteration of water flows – through construction of roads.
- Removal of resources for urban and industrial land uses – These also increase turbidity and toxins in the water supplied to mangroves. (The removal can also result in changed energy flows and nutrient cycles, affecting food chains for both sedentary and migratory fauna)
- Replacement of wetland areas – for parks, playing fields or pasture.
- Destruction of sea grasses– in areas adjoining wetlands can affect energy flows and nutrient cycles as species levels will be affected.
- Introduction of exotic species – e.g. foxes, rabbits, sheep, cattle, pigs. – change energy flows and nutrient cycles. Birds are particularly affected, for example the little tern.
- Indirect influences from adjacent sites – e.g. weed infestation (lantana – Towra Point) – carried into the wetlands by horses from the nearby stables.
- Trampling – from illegal access
- Threat of oil spills – Kurnell Refinery near Towra Point, 31 oil spills between 1957 and 1987 averaging 49,000 litres (11,000 imp gal; 13,000 US gal).[19]
- Recreational horse riding – on the reserve and unsupervised recreational use of the reserve (e.g. dog walking)
- Boating – disturbs wildlife in the park, and creates pollution.
- Fishing – kills fish, which affects the food chains operating within the reserve.
- Erosion of Towra Beach – due to wave refraction from the Sydney Airport runway which causes the freshwater Towra Point Lagoon to become saline
- Fragmentation of the reserve – by private land ownership
- Bay development – in general, including the Sydney Airport runway and the oil refinery. There have also been concerns that the Sydney Desalination Plant will impact negatively on the reserve.
- Illegal rubbish dumping – has occurred both in the reserve and near the entrance. In late 2004, a large amount of dumped asbestos was discovered.
- Land destabilisation – due to extensive mining of the larger dunes on Towra Point during the twentieth century it has been suggested that if the site was ravaged by strong enough storms breaks in the point could occur and breach the gentle lagoons of Towra Point.[35]
- Runoff – due to most of the surrounding land being used for urban and industrial purposes.[19] Stormwater from the Kurnell Refinery runs through the Ramsar-listed area of Towra Point Nature Reserve.[36]
- Subsidence – near the walkway, subsidence has been recorded, which has encouraged the establishment of mangroves in the upper swamp.[37]
Management of the reserve
Traditional
The traditional objectives for the management of wetland areas were built around the use of wetland resources for food, shelter and tools. Grey mangrove wood, for example, was used to make shields, shells were made into fishing hooks; and marine animals were used for food.
Contemporary
- Identify management goals and objectives – Today management plans for wetlands focus on the preservation and sustainable use of sites for recreation, conservation and education purposes. This may involve some exclusion zones but many areas are open to recreational and educational activities.
- Define management unit and boundaries – The "management unit" for many intertidal wetlands is often difficult to define because of the large number of stakeholders. For example, the Towra Point wetland has input from NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, NSW Fisheries, Sutherland Shire Council, Friends of Towra Point and recreational users.
- Develop and implement management plans – An intertidal wetland is a dynamic system. As our knowledge of ecosystems has increased community attitudes have changed. Communities are now demanding that these ecosystems are protected and effectively managed.
Care has been taken to develop management plans that are both realistic and flexible. They need to take into account scientific and technological advances, changing social and political attitudes and variations in the level of funding. Management plans also need to be consistent with Australia's international obligations under JAMBA, CAMBA and Ramsar.[38]
Applicable legislation and international environmental law
International environmental law
Federal environmental law
As the Towra Point area is Ramsar listed, this attracts the operation of the federal
State environmental law
In addition to land use planning law, the following Acts are applicable
Towra Point Nature Reserve has been listed as being part of the
References
- ^ a b c d e "Towra Point Nature Reserve: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ "Towra Point". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "Origin of the names of suburbs and other places" (PDF). Sutherland Shire Council. May 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2014.
- ^ Molloy, Fran (20 March 2000). "Kurnell Sands Demand Shift in Attitude". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 January 2003. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ a b "Entrance of Endeavour River, in New South Wales" (1773) [Map]. Collections. State Library of Queensland.
- ^ a b "Towra Point Nature Reserve". Sutherland Shire. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ "Parks and Playgrounds". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 May 1935. p. 5. Retrieved 4 June 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
- ISSN 1328-746X. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ "Federation Chamber: Condolences: Gietzelt, Hon. Arthur Thomas, AO". Parliament of Australia. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ "Looking back: biodiversity legislation". National Parks Journal. April 2005. Archived from the original on 4 July 2005.
- ^ Trembath, Murray (12 October 2018). "Flashback Friday Photos | People power stops airport at Towra Point". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ "Tasmania: Sydney Airport: Towra Point Development (Question No. 1918)". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ "Rough ride for bay's fragile beauty". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ Glascott, Joseph (4 June 1983). "Bird haven threatened, say ecologists". The Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald Archives. p. 5.
- ^ "Death Of Mr Ray William Thorburn". Parliament of Australia. 11 February 1986. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ "Mangrove area to be reserve". The Canberra Times. 21 March 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 9 May 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
- Government of Australia. 10 September 1979. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ Glascott, Joseph (7 April 1982). "Oil spill killing vital bird sanctuary, say scientists". The Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald Archives. p. 16.
- ^ a b c d e f "Towra Point ECD" (PDF). Local Land Services: Greater Sydney (PDF). Government of New South Wales.
- ^ Glascott, Joseph (17 September 1983). "The 'Old Man' of Botany: Bernie's fight to save the bay". The Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald Archives. p. 33.
- ^ Bailey, Paul (28 April 1990). "The Bay, no place for botany now". The Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald Archives. p. 1.
- ^ [1] Archived 16 June 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Towra Beach Nourishment
- .
- ^ Lillian, Saleh. "Bob's Good Tern – Cost To Save Each Bird? $12,500." Daily Telegraph, The (Sydney) (n.d.): Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
- ^ "It's the call of the mild – one good tern deserves a little help". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 December 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ The Towra Team – Fact Sheets – Gardening Australia – GARDENING AUSTRALIA
- ^ Towra Team: NSW - YouTube
- ^ Curtin, Jennie (31 March 2010). "Towra Point wetlands". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ Carr, Kate (30 December 2011). "Little terns rule the roosts at reserve". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader – via Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre.
- ^ Trembath, Murray (10 July 2014). "Towra bird habitat in decline". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ "Botany Bay National Park bound for heritage register". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- .
- ^ "Environment & Heritage | NSW BioNet". Environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ "Towra Point Nature Reserve" (PDF). Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands (PDF). Ramsar. April 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ "Water Management Report: Appendix E: Water and Wastewater Management" (PDF). Environmental Impact Statement (PDF). Caltex Australia. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- S2CID 130728822.
- )
- ^ "Coastal Dune Littoral Rainforest S_RF06" (pp.21-23) in Office of Environment and Heritage (2013) 'The Native Vegetation of the Sydney Metropolitan Area Volume 2: Vegetation Community Profiles.' Sydney
- ^ "State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPP) review". www.planning.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
Further reading
- Second Sydney Airport: report on Commonwealth-State consideration Towra Point, Wattomolla and Mascot extension, Environmental Impact Reports Pty Ltd, 1973
- Towra Point Nature Reserve Ramsar site: ecological character description (PDF). Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW. 2010. ISBN 978-1-74232-132-5.
External links
- Sutherland Shire Environment Centre - Towra Point (the virtual tour is excellent)
- Sydney University Excursion
- NSW Fisheries - Towra Point Aquatic Nature Reserve