Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens, formerly Jervis Bay National Park and Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens, are located in the

Jervis Bay Territory The Jervis Bay Territory (; JBT) is an internal territory of Australia. It was established in 1915 from part of New South Wales (NSW), in order to give the landlocked Australian Capital Territory (ACT) access to the sea. It was administered ...

of Australia. The reserve is composed of two sections: * the Bherwerre Peninsula, on the southern foreshore of

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia ...

Bowen Island Bowen Island (originally Nex̱wlélex̱m in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), British Columbia, is an island municipality that is part of Metro Vancouver. Bowen Island is within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust. Located in Howe Sound, it is approximate ...

and the waters of the south of the bay * lands bordered by Wreck Bay to the south, St Georges Basin to the north and Sussex Inlet to the west What is now a national park was declared as a nature reserve in 1971. In 1992, Jervis Bay National Park was declared. The local Aboriginal community was offered two seats on the park's Board of Management and declined as part of a protest over land rights issues. In 1995, the park was transferred to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community. At this time, the name of the park was changed to "Booderee". The name, meaning "bay of plenty" or "plenty of fish" in the

Dhurga language The Dhurga language, also written Thurga, is an Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales. It is a language of the Yuin people, specifically the Wandandian and Walbunja groups, but there have been no fluent speakers officially recorde ...

, was chosen by the local Aboriginal community. It is now co-managed with

Parks Australia Director of National Parks is a government-owned corporation of the Australian government responsible for the management of a portfolio of terrestrial and marine protected areas proclaimed under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Cons ...

History

In 1995, the park was transferred to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community, when the name was changed to "Booderee". The name, meaning "bay of plenty" or "plenty of fish" in the Dhurga language, was chosen by the local Aboriginal community. It is now co-managed with Parks Australia. In 2010 the park won international award in the Virgin Holidays’ Responsible Tourism Awards. The lighthouse was built during the 19th century because of the number of the shipwrecks that happened nearby. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was built in the wrong spot and it came to be regarded as a navigational hazard.

Description

The park is managed as an

Indigenous Protected Area An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations ...

. The reserve is composed of two sections: * The Bherwerre Peninsula, located on the southern foreshore of

; * The lands bordered by Wreck Bay to the south. There are hundreds of kilometres of walking tracks.

Park highlights

Cave Beach with its unspoiled beaches and abundant flora and fauna, the park, located just three hours from the cities 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 Mounta ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, is extremely popular with tourists. The park's sea cliffs are the highest in New South Wales and among the highest anywhere on the east coast of Australia, peaking at Steamers Head which rises to 130 m. The Cape St George Lighthouse ruin is considered the most significant

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an heritage site in the park and was listed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Herita ...

in 1981. The beach at Greenpatch is a popular destination, and is said to have the whitest sand in the world.Gazing onto the world's whitest sand
''SMH'', 31 December 2005. In addition there are abundant surf breaks on the ocean sides of the Park, most notably

South Coast Pipe The South Coast Pipe (also known as ''Black Rock'', ''Wreck Bay'' or ''Summercloud Bay'') is a surf spot in the Jervis Bay Territory, Australia. It takes its name from the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii because both breaks share many characteristics. I ...

. Although not accessible to the public, a

little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian li ...

rookery exists on

. Murrays beach lies just to the west of the southern headland, facing Bowen Island and is one of the most beautiful in the park.

Gallery

File:Cave Beach, Shoalhaven, 15Jan05 (4).jpg, January 2005 File:Booderee National Park fire regrowth.jpg, Regrowth after fire, March 2019 File:Hole in the Wall, Greenpatch, Jervis Bay, Australia (October 2006).jpg, Greenpatch File:Wetland area near Murrays Beach Car Park.jpg, Wetland File:Murrays Beach.jpg, Murrays Beach looking east with Bowen Island at centre

References

External links