A draft plan of management for Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Lion Island Nature Reserve, Long Island Nature Reserve and Spectacle Island Nature Reserve is open for public comment until November 22.
The plan of management describes the desired outcomes for the parks’ values and actions the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) proposes to undertake to achieve these outcomes. It is not a council document, so technically has nothing to do with Council but some of the areas are in the local government boundaries.
It also sets out the recreational and business activities that are permitted in the national park and any requirements to undertake these activities, including whether consent must be sought from NPWS to undertake them.
Lion Island Nature Reserve sits in Broken Bay near the Central Coast suburb of Pearl Beach.
It can be seen in the distance from Gosford waterfront (if you know what you’re looking for, admittedly) and from Umina Beach.
Long Island Nature Reserve and Spectacle Island Nature Reserve are in the Hawkesbury River near the townships of Brooklyn and Mooney Mooney.
The 9-hectare Lion Island was dedicated a fauna reserve in 1956 and declared a nature reserve in 1967.
Before August 2018, most of Lion Island had been unaffected by fire for more than 30 years.
In August 2018, a lightning strike started a bushfire on Lion Island, which burnt most of the island and severely damaged the habitat of the island’s little penguin
population.
Artificial fireproof nesting burrows were installed on the island to provide little penguin habitat while the vegetation communities recovered.
Long Island Nature Reserve includes 73 hectares of Long Island originally set aside for public recreation in 1911, before being dedicated a nature reserve in 1972.
A small area at the eastern end of the island is managed by Transport for New South Wales and is not part of the nature reserve. A railway tunnel and associated buildings are located on this section of Long Island.
Lion Island Nature Reserve, Long Island Nature Reserve and Spectacle Island Nature Reserve are managed for conservation of their natural and cultural heritage values. Access to the nature reserves is only permitted for research and for park management activities relating to the protection of natural and cultural values.
Visitor access is not permitted, and therefore no visitor facilities are provided.
By contrast, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park which is further south, is one of the most visited parks in NSW.
Visitors picnic, bushwalk, bike ride, camp and undertake a variety of water-based recreational activities including boating, sailing, swimming, kayaking and canoeing.
See more here: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/community-engagement/ku-ring-gai-chase-national-park
