Barakee is a national park in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, 257 km north of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. It is connected to Barakee State Conservation Area.

Description

The park and conservation area form an

ecological corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

from the Manning River floodplain to the Great Dividing Range, linking diverse habitats. It also supports several threatened animal species. There is a high diversity of forest ecosystems and other vegetation communities in the area. It includes significant stands of

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

and rainforest habitats. The vegetation is dominated by Sydney blue gum (''

Eucalyptus saligna ''Eucalyptus saligna'', commonly known as the Sydney blue gum or blue gum, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, flaky bark near the base of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to c ...

''), forest red gum ('' Eucalyptus tereticornis''), river oak (''

Casuarina cunninghamiana ''Casuarina cunninghamiana'', commonly known as river oak or river she-oak, is a she-oak species of the genus ''Casuarina''. The native range in Australia extends from Daly River in the Northern Territory, north and east in Queensland and easter ...

''), thin-leaved stringybark (''

Eucalyptus eugenioides ''Eucalyptus eugenioides'', commonly known as the thin-leaved stringybark or white stringybark, is a species of tree endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small to medium-sized tree with rough stringy bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, Fl ...

''), tallowwood (''

Eucalyptus microcorys ''Eucalyptus microcorys'', commonly known as tallowwood, is a species of medium to tall tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, fibrous or string bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped to egg-shaped adult leaves, flower bud ...

''), grey gums (''

Eucalyptus punctata ''Eucalyptus punctata'', commonly known as grey gum, is a small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has smooth grey bark that is shed in patches, lance-shaped, curved or egg-shaped adult leaves flower buds in groups of ...

'', '' Eucalyptus canaliculata'' and ''

Eucalyptus biturbinata ''Eucalyptus biturbinata'', commonly known as grey gum, is a tree native to New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia. It is regarded as a synonym of '' E. punctata'' by the Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) pro ...

''), white mahogany (''

Eucalyptus acmenoides ''Eucalyptus acmenoides'', commonly known as white mahogany or barayly,Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, page 40 is a tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a large tree with grey to reddish brown, stringy b ...

''), pink bloodwood (''

Corymbia intermedia ''Corymbia intermedia'', commonly known as the pink bloodwood, is a species of medium to tall tree that is endemic to north-eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, flower buds in groups of seven, white flow ...

''), broad-leaved apple (''

Angophora subvelutina ''Angophora subvelutina'', commonly known as the broad-leaved apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped to egg-shaped or elliptical adult leaves, flower buds in ...

'') and apple box (''

Eucalyptus bridgesiana ''Eucalyptus bridgesiana'', commonly known as apple box, apple, apple gum or but-but, is a medium to large sized tree. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth grey bark above, glossy green, lance-shaped adult leaves, f ...

''). Threatened animal species include glossy black-cockatoo ('' Calyptorhynchus lathami''), scarlet robin ('' Petroica boodang''), flame robin (''

Petroica phoenicea The flame robin (''Petroica phoenicea'') is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Like the other two red-breasted ''Petroica'' robins&md ...

''), eastern false pipistrelle (''

Falsistrellus tasmaniensis The eastern false pipistrelle (''Falsistrellus tasmaniensis'') is a vesper bat that occurs in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including the island of Tasmania. Taxonomy A species of genus '' Falsistrellus'', allied to the family Vespertil ...

''), koala (''

Phascolarctos cinereus The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womba ...

'') and eastern bentwing-bat ('' Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis''). Barakee is remote, and therefore doesn't have large numbers of visitors, but it provides a natural experience. Camping, swimming and fishing are possible in the park. Visitors can hike or drive four-wheel vehicles.

Fires of 2019-2020

The fires that took place in 2019/2020 left scars on some parts of the park. So many parts are closed to visitors, to give the habitat time to recover and to renew the infrastructure.

References

National parks of New South Wales Protected areas established in 1999 1999 establishments in Australia {{NewSouthWales-protected-area-stub

Description

Fires of 2019-2020

See also

References