Beowa National Park, formerly Ben Boyd National Park, 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, south of Sydney.

History

The park was established in 1971 covering 8,900 hectares (35 sq. mi.) and was originally named after

Benjamin Boyd Benjamin Boyd (21 August 180115 October 1851) was a Scottish entrepreneur who became a major shipowner, banker, grazier, politician and slaver, exploiting South Sea Islander labour in the British colony of New South Wales. Boyd became one ...

. In September 2022 after consultations with more than 60 representatives from Aboriginal and South Sea Islander communities the park was renamed Beowa. It has since been expanded to cover 10,486 hectares (40 sq. mi.).Wright, p. 223. Boyd was a wealthy pastoralist and businessman in the 1840s, with interests in shipping (including

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

), based on the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

of NSW. At the time, the area was part of the District of Port Phillip and Boyd was elected to the NSW Legislative Council for the

electoral district of Port Phillip The Electoral district of Port Phillip was an electorate of the New South Wales Legislative Council before it became the separate colony of Victoria (Australia) on 1 July 1851. At the time, some members of the Council were elected and the balance ...

. He was the first in Australia to engage in

blackbirding Blackbirding involves the coercion of people through deception or kidnapping to work as slaves or poorly paid labourers in countries distant from their native land. The term has been most commonly applied to the large-scale taking of people in ...

, a practice akin to slavery, when a ship he had commissioned brought 65

Melanesian Melanesian is the adjectival form of Melanesia. It may refer to: * Melanesians * Melanesian mythology * Melanesian languages In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceani ...

labourers to Boyd Town in 1847. In the wake of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

around the world and in Australia and the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement gaining pace in May–June 2020, calls for the National Park to be renamed were renewed.

Matt Kean Matthew John Kean (born 16 September 1981) is an Australian politician, who has served as the Treasurer of New South Wales in the second Perrottet ministry of New South Wales since October 2021. He has also served as the Minister for Energy s ...

, the NSW Environment Minister, commented that "national parks are about connecting people, not dividing them", and promised to seek a briefing about renaming the park and then to consult with local elders and the community. Boyd commissioned the construction of a

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

tower overlooking the entrance to the harbour of

Twofold Bay Twofold Bay is an open oceanic embayment that is located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The bay was named by George Bass, for its shape of two bights. The northern bight is called Calle Calle Bay; while the southern ...

to alert whaling crews of the approach of their prey. The tower was never completed. In November 2021, Kean announced Ben Boyd National Park would be renamed and in September 2022 it was.

Description

The park consists of two sections, on either side of Twofold Bay and the town of Eden. The smaller northern section is bounded on its western border by the Princes Highway. The geology of this section is mainly sedimentary rock (

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

) laid down in the

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

, with some

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

outcrops. The main attraction for tourists is the Pinnacles, a multicoloured erosion gully with white sands overlaid by rusty red clay. The southern section coastline is metamorphic and

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

in age, with some heavily folded sections at Red Point, near Boyd's tower.Wright, p. 220. The park is fairly flat, with none of the northern section exceeding 100 metres (300') in elevation, and the southern section not much higher; the tallest peak is Haycock Hill at 252 metres (827'). The region is particularly windy, dry and cold, and the headlands are covered in a low ground-hugging heathland community of plants. Further inland, the heath is replaced by open eucalypt woodland, which makes up most of the park's habitat. The two dominant tree species are silvertop ash (''

Eucalyptus sieberi ''Eucalyptus sieberi'', commonly known as the silvertop ash or black ash, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and the base of larger branches, smooth bark above, l ...

'') and red bloodwood (''

Corymbia gummifera ''Corymbia gummifera'', commonly known as red bloodwood, is a species of tree, rarely a mallee, that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups o ...

'').Wright, p. 224. There are also scattered pockets of

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

in gullies and protected areas, with species such as the scentless rosewood ('' Synoum glandulosum'') and smooth mock-olive ('' Notelaea venosa'').

Wildlife

212 species of bird have been recorded in the park, with the heathlands being home to the

eastern ground parrot The eastern ground parrot (''Pezoporus wallicus'') of Australia is one of only five ground-dwelling parrots in the world, the others being its closest relatives, the western ground parrot (''Pezoporus flaviventris''), the extremely rare night par ...

and endangered

eastern bristlebird The eastern bristlebird (''Dasyornis brachypterus'') is a species of bird in the bristlebird family, Dasyornithidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, and temperate grassland. It is thre ...

. The

little tern The little tern (''Sternula albifrons'') is a seabird of the family Laridae. It was formerly placed into the genus ''Sterna'', which now is restricted to the large white terns. The genus name is a diminutive of ''Sterna'', "tern". The specific '' ...

breeds in the sand dunes and beaches and is threatened by recreational four-wheel driving.Wright, p. 225. The park forms part of the

Ulladulla to Merimbula Important Bird Area The Ulladulla to Merimbula Important Bird Area comprises a strip of coastal and subcoastal land stretching along the southern coastline of New South Wales, Australia. It is an important site for swift parrots. Description The 2100 km2 Im ...

, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because of its importance for

swift parrot The swift parrot (''Lathamus discolor'') is a species of broad-tailed parrot, found only in southeastern Australia. The species breeds in Tasmania during the summer and migrates north to south eastern mainland Australia from Griffith-Warialda ...

s. Fifty species of mammal have been recorded. Pests recorded include cats and foxes, both which have covered the park, occasional feral dogs, and rabbits in previously cleared areas and picnic areas. Bitou bush (''

Chrysanthemoides monilifera ''Osteospermum moniliferum'' ''(Chrysanthemoides monilifera)'' is an evergreen flowering shrub or small tree of the Asteraceae (daisy) family that is native to South Africa, such as the Cape Flats Dune Strandveld habitat. Most subspecies have woo ...

'') is a problem weed north of the Pambula River.

References

Cited text

External links

Ben Boyd National Park official website

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the ...

* {{authority control Important Bird Areas of New South Wales National parks of New South Wales Protected areas established in 1971 South Coast (New South Wales) 1971 establishments in Australia