The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has announced plans to turn back the tide of extinctions of the State’s vulnerable animals by more than tripling the area of feral cat and fox-free land in national parks.
Minister for the Environment, Matt Kean said the $20 million plan would establish four new areas and bring the total fox and cat-free area in NSW national parks to almost 65,000 hectares.
“This is one of the most significant wildlife restoration projects in the State’s history,” Mr Kean said.
“By establishing four new feral predator free areas we are paving the way for the return of wildlife that has been lost from our national parks as a result of feral cats and foxes,” he said.
“Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world, feral cats alone kill more than 1.4 billion native animals every year, with many surviving species at risk of extinction.”
Mr Kean said it was estimated that over 50 threatened species would benefit from the program, including 28 locally extinct species and more than 30 threatened species currently surviving in national parks.
The Minster said the four new sites would be located in Castlereagh Nature Reserve in Western Sydney, Yathong Nature Reserve in Central NSW, Ngambaa Nature Reserve in North-east NSW and the Eden Bombala Region in South-east NSW.
“We have been guided by the science in identifying the new locations, which will include NSW’s first feral-free sites in tall wet forests,” Mr Kean said.
