Alwal National Park is a national park in the

Shire of Cook The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

on the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

, Australia.

Geography

Protected within the park is a section of the

Morehead River The Morehead River is a river in southwestern Papua New Guinea. It is located just to the east of the Bensbach River, and to the west of the Fly River. The river flows through the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands. The mouth of the river is locat ...

as well as escarpments, undulating low hills, seasonal wetlands and patches of vine-thicket. Alwal lies within the Cape York Peninsula bioregion and contains about 30 separate wetland ecosystems which cover just under 1% of the park. In the east sandstone escarpments and rocky slopes dominate the landscape.

Fauna

Alwal National Park is home to some of last known populations of the

Golden-shouldered parrot The golden-shouldered parrot (''Psephotellus chrysopterygius''), also known as the alwal, is a rare bird of southern Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. A small parrot related to the more common red-rumped parrot (''Psephotus haematon ...

, one of Australia's most endangered bird species. The park also protects the habitat of the threatened

Cape York rock-wallaby The Cape York rock-wallaby (''Petrogale coenensis'') is a species of rock-wallaby restricted to Cape York Peninsula in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a member of a group of seven very closely related rock-wallabies, all found in northe ...

red goshawk The red goshawk (''Erythrotriorchis radiatus'') is probably the rarest Australian bird of prey. It is found mainly in the savanna woodlands of northern Australia, particularly near watercourses. It takes a broad range of live prey, mostly birds. ...

and

black-necked stork The black-necked stork (''Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus'') is a tall long-necked wading bird in the stork family. It is a resident species across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia with a disjunct population in Australia. It lives in wetla ...

History

Alwal National Park was officially opened in May 2010 by acting Minister for Environment

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , Polish: Annastacia Pałaszczuk, ; born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who has been the 39th premier of Queensland since 2015 and the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since ...

. It is named after the Golden-shouldered parrot which has the name Alwal in the

Kunjen language Kunjen, or Uw, is a Paman languages, Paman language spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, by the Uw Oykangand people, Uw Oykangand, Olkola, and related Aboriginal Australian peoples. It is closely related to Kuuk Thaayorre ...

. The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the land are the Uw Olkola people. The park is managed under a new model between the state government and Olkola Aboriginal Corporation Land Trust. The property was previously known as Mulkay.

Facilities

There is no vehicle access or visitor facilities.

References

External links