The Paroo-Darling National Park is a protected national park in the Far West region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park spans two distinct regions in the outback area. This region covers the arid catchments of the Paroo River (Peery and Poloko Lakes) and the Paroo-Darling confluence to the south.

History

Aboriginal heritage has been protected here and evidence of a lifestyle spanning back many thousands of years in the hearth sites, stone tool scatters and scarred trees that had supplied bark. Prior to European settlement the area was home to the Paakantyi people. The first European to explore the region was Charles Sturt and his party in 1844. They were followed soon after by others in search of pastures for sheep and cattle in the 1860s and the area became part of the Momba Station. From 1902 Momba was successively subdivided until 1950 when the remainder was divided into ten leases including Peery, Mandalay and Arrowbar.

The Paroo-Darling National Park was formed after the purchase of seven properties between 2000 and 2003 by the Government of New South Wales, with assistance from the National Reserve System Program. The former Peery property was the first to be acquired by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and was gazetted as the Peery National Park 31 March 2000. In 2001 the pastoral properties Mandalay and Arrowbar were added and the park was re-gazetted as part of the Paroo-Darling National Park in 2002. These three properties were in what is now the northern section of the park, near .

Paroo Overflow section The Paroo River Overflow section () of the park is located in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, 30 kilometres east of White Cliffs and 80 kilometres north of Wilcannia.NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. 2012. Paroo Darling National Park and State Conservation Area Plan of Management. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville, New South Wales. The park comprises the former pastoral properties of Peery, Mandalay and Arrowbar and covers an area of approximately 96000 hectares (237000 acres).Westbrooke, M., J. Leversha, M. Gibson, M. O'Keefe, R. Milne, S. Gowans, C. Harding, and K. Callister. 2003. The vegetation of Peery Lake area, Paroo-Darling National Park, western New South Wales. Cunninghamia 8: 111–128. The park is located within the Mulga Lands Bioregion and has significant biodiversity and landscape values.NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. 2003. The bio-regions of New South Wales: Their biodiversity, conservation and history. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville, New South Wales. The wetlands in the park, together with Nocoleche Nature Reserve, form the Paroo River Wetlands Ramsar site.Kingsford, R.T., and E. Lee. 2010. Ecological Character Description of the Paroo River Wetlands Ramsar Site. Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW, Sydney, New South Wales. The park also includes active artesian mound springs which are considered to be the rarest landform in Australia.NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. 2002. Salt Pipewort (Eriocaulon carsonii) Recovery Plan. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville, New South Wales.

Environment The park is set in a landscape of grey cracking clays and red sand hills along the Darling River floodplains. Peery and Poloko Lakes and their associated wetlands form part of the Paroo overflow which is important for wildlife. Peery Lake covers when in flood and is the largest of the Paroo Overflow lakes. This lake is a water bird haven and when full it will hold water for several years. When dry, Peery Lake is the only location in New South Wales where the Great Artesian Basin mound springs are visible in a lakebed.

Most of the park lies within the Paroo Floodplain and Currawinya Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance, when conditions are suitable, for large numbers of waterbirds.

Ecology

The park is located in the Mulga Lands Bioregion which extends from north western NSW into south western Queensland, and contains a range of landforms, each of which supports unique vegetation communities and ecosystems. The predominant vegetation type of this bioregion is dominated by mulga (Acacia aneura) and other woody shrub species. The bioregion also includes the floodplains of the Paroo and Warrego Rivers. The climate of the region is described as arid with low average rainfall which is highly variabile leading to extended droughts and occasional flooding rains.Morton, S. R., D. M. Stafford-Smith, C. R. Dickman, D. L. Dunkerley, M. H. Friedel, R. R. J. McAllister, J. R. W. Reid, D. A. Roshier, M. A. Smith, F. J. Walsh, G. M. Wardle, I. W. Watson, and M. Westoby. 2011. A fresh framework for the ecology of arid Australia. Journal of Arid Environments 75: 313–329. The region is also characterised by evaporation rates that are much higher than average annual rainfall leading to low water availability over much of the region. Temperatures are high in summer and mild in winter. The mulga lands bioregion has suffered from the deterioration of diversity, ecological complexity and ecological functioning due to prolonged overgrazing combined with the semi-arid climate.Thackway, R., and K. Olssen. 1999. Public/private partnerships and protected areas: Selected Australian case studies. Landscape and Urban Planning 44: 87–97.

Topography The landforms protected in the park include the Peery Hills with rugged gorges and low escarpments, ephemeral lake basins, sand plains and dune fields. The park contains two large ephemeral lakes, Lake Peery and Lake Poloko. These lakes are part of the Paroo Overflow lake system and fill on average once every five years and remain filled from between one and three years.Timms, B. J. 2001. Large freshwater lakes in arid Australia: A review of their limnology and threats to their future. Lakes and Reservoirs: Research and Management 6: 183–196. These are freshwater lakes but become brackish as they dry. The wetlands have been identified as an important refugia for biodiversity in the region.Morton, S. R., J. Short, and R. D. Barker. 1995. Refugia for biological diversity in arid and semi-arid Australia. Australian Government Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. These wetlands rely on the highly variable flows of the Paroo River which is the last unregulated river system in the Murray-Darling Basin. The variable flow regime of the Paroo River with flooding and drying events is a key ecological process for the park as it creates high habitat heterogeneity which supports high biodiversity.Boulton, A. J., and M. A. Brock 1999. Australian Freshwater Ecology: Processes and Management. Gleneagles Publishing, Glen Osmond, South Australia.Ward, J. V. 1998. Riverine landscapes: Biodiversity patterns, disturbance regimes, and aquatic conservation. Biological Conservation 83: 269–278.

Fauna

The park supports a variety of different fauna typical of the arid zone of Australia. Prominent macropod species found in the park include red kangaroo (Macropus rufus), eastern grey kangaroo (M. gigantius), western grey kangaroo (M. fuliginosus) and euro (M. robustus). There are also a number of vulnerable mammal species listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act (NSW TSC Act) that have been recorded in the park. They are yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris), little pied bat (Chalinilobus picatus), inland forest bat (Vespadelus baverstocki) and stripe-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata).

Surveys conducted by the Australian Museum and Australian Herpetological Society in 2001 and 2002 recorded 44 species of reptiles and 8 species of amphibians. These include the wedgesnout ctenotus (Ctenotus brooksi) and crowned gecko (Lucasium stenodactylum) which are listed as vulnerable under the NSW TSC Act. Other species recorded included the lace monitor (Varanus varius), shingleback (Tiliqua rugosa), carpet python (Morelia spilota metcalfei) and mulga snake (Pseudechis australis).

The wetlands located in the park are important in the region because they provide a refuge for many species during times of drought. After floods when the lakes are full they are able to support large numbers of aquatic species and waterbirds. Aerial surveys counted 35900 waterbirds comprising 42 species on Peery Lake in 1993 and 28000 waterbirds comprising 35 species on Poloko Lake in 1990.Kingsford, R. T. 1999. Wetlands and waterbirds of the Paroo and Warrego Rivers. Pages 23–50 in R. T. Kingsford, editor. A Free Flowing River: the Ecology of the Paroo River. Hurstville: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville, New South Wales. The numbers of waterbirds that the lake supports is highly variable fluctuating in response to water levels. Peery and Poloko Lake also provide important habitat for migratory shorebirds that are covered by international bird agreements JAMBA, CAMBA and ROKAMBA. There have been five waterbird species listed under the NSW TSC Act recorded in the park. They are freckled duck (Stictonetta naevosa), blue-billed duck (Oxyura australis), brolga (Grus rubicunda), painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), and black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa).Ramsar Information Sheet (2007). Ramsar Information Sheet for the Paroo River Wetlands. Department of Environment and Conservation NSW, Sydney, New South Wales.

Flora The park supports a wide diversity of vegetation. A total of 424 vascular plant species have been recorded in the park. There are 20 vegetation communities in the park with the most widespread being mulga tall shrubland/tall open shrubland, Eremophila / Dodonaea / Acacia open shrubland and black bluebush (Maireana pyramidata) low open shrubland.

The park supports two threatened ecological communities listed as endangered under the NSW TSC Act. They are artesian mound springs and nelia (Acacia loderi) woodland. Artesian mound springs are also listed as threatened under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC Act). The park supports one nationally threatened plant species salt pipewort (Eriocaulun carsonii), which is listed as endangered under the EPBC Act, and four plant species (Nitella partita, Dysphania platycarpa, Eriocaulon carsonii, Dentella minutissima) that are listed as endangered under the NSW TSC Act. The salt pipewort is considered to be one of the rarest vascular plant species in NSW with the only population in NSW occurring in the Lake Peery mound springs.

Artesian mound springs