The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has announced the establishment of the State’s newest national park and the first to be created in the Wheatbelt region.
The Dryandra Woodland National Park, near Narrogin, 180 kilometres south-east of Perth, is the home of Australia’s rarest and most vulnerable wildlife, including numbats (pictured), woylies, brushtail wallabies, chuditch, quenda and the mound-building malleefowl.
Minister for the Environment, Reece Whitby said the conversion of the former State Forest to a national park would help ensure the future protection of native animals living in one of the last remnants of original woodland in the western Wheatbelt.
“Numbers of numbats, Western Australia’s animal emblem, have increased at Dryandra in recent years thanks to the Department’s conservation program,” Mr Whitby said.
“The Department’s Western Shield program, which has been operating for 25 years and works to protect WA’s native wildlife, has achieved significant conservation outcomes for many vulnerable native species in Dryandra,” he said.
The Minister said the new national park was also home to Barna Mia, a predator-proof animal sanctuary where the public could see rare and protected wildlife, including numbats, in their nocturnal environment.
“The new national park is within a day’s travel from Perth and will continue to be a popular destination for wildlife enthusiasts, campers and bushwalkers for generations to come,” Mr Whitby said.
