Narawntapu National Park (formerly known as Asbestos Range National Park) is a national park in the Australian state of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It lies on Tasmania's north coast, adjoining Bass Strait, between

Port Sorell Port Sorell is a town on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is on the waterway of the same name, just off Bass Strait, 20 km east of Devonport and close to Shearwater and Hawley Beach. It borders the Rubicon Estuary, whi ...

in the west and the mouth of the

Tamar River The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being called a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length. Location and features Formed by the ...

in the east. It lies about 20 km east of Devonport, 60 km north-west of Launceston and 250 km north of Hobart. Narawntapu encompasses islands in the Port Sorell estuary and the

Carbuncle A carbuncle is a cluster of boils caused by bacterial infection, most commonly with ''Staphylococcus aureus'' or ''Streptococcus pyogenes''. The presence of a carbuncle is a sign that the immune system is active and fighting the infection. The ...

, as well as land extending to low water mark, including

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

mudflats. The highest point of the park is 392 m ASL. It is listed on Australia's Register of the National Estate.Anon. (2000). ''Narawntapu National Park, Hawley Nature Reserve - Management Plan 2000''. Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania. PDF download Narawntapu is popular with visitors, with many coming from the tourist centres of Devonport and

. The visitor centre is located in an area known as Springlawn, where visitors can see Forester kangaroos, Bennett's wallabies, Tasmanian pademelons grazing in the open plain.

History

The park was originally reserved, as the Asbestos Range National Park, on 29 June 1976. The name was changed to Narawntapu in 2000 because of concerns that the word ' Asbestos' was deterring potential visitors. 'Narawntapu' is of

Tasmanian Aboriginal The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and ...

origin, referring to the coastal promontories West Head and Badger Head within the park.

Climate

Narawntapu has a temperate maritime climate with an annual, mainly winter, rainfall of 750 mm. The prevailing winds are from the north-east and north-west. Mean temperatures are 17° C in January and 9° C in July.

Flora and fauna

Vegetation communities represented in the park include coastal

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

, dry

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

, herbland,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

. The rare Pygmy Clubmoss has been recorded from the park. A feature of the park is the high density of

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

s present. In addition to kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons, one can find also common wombats and Tasmanian devils.

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and spotted-tail quolls live in the area, as well as

platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or mono ...

es and

echidnas Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae . The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the ...

. The birdlife is rich and includes threatened species such as the

hooded plover The hooded dotterel or hooded plover (''Thinornis cucullatus'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons. There are two recognised subspecies whi ...

, Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle and

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 ...

. The

mudflats in the North East Arm area of the park are an important foraging area for migratory

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s, and form part of the

Rubicon Estuary The Rubicon Estuary is an estuary on the central coast of northern Tasmania, south-eastern Australia, lying next to the town of Port Sorell. Description The estuary has a shallow muddy substrate and is fed by several streams, including the Fra ...

Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of their importance for

pied oystercatcher The pied oystercatcher (''Haematopus longirostris'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island pied oystercatcher (''H. finschi'') occurs in New Zealand. ...

s. There is also a rich diversity of birdlife in the land surrounding the wetlands. At certain times of the year, several species of ducks, as well as

herons The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...

coots Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...

, bitterns and grebes call the lagoon home. In 2019, the population of wombats was reduced to as low as three due to the mange disease, which led to the death of several wombats. The disease started spreading in 2010 and made the scientists at the park use a drench technique at burrow entrances to treat the animals. However, it contained the disease for a short while and ultimately resulted in the deaths of most of the wombats.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control National parks of Tasmania Protected areas established in 1976 1976 establishments in Australia Northern Tasmania

History

Climate

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links