The Western Sydney Parklands is an urban park system and a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

located in

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 ...

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 country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The

NSW government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

has spent around $400 million for the park. The park is governed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and is listed under the '' National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974''. The Parklands begin in the north in the

City of Blacktown Blacktown City Council is a local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1906 as the Blackt ...

, cross the

City of Fairfield The Fairfield City Council is a local government area in the west of Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west ...

, and end in the City of Liverpool. The parklands, being approximately in size and in length, are one of the largest in the world, and they would feature picnic areas, sports grounds and walking tracks. The parklands attract 430,000 to 790,000 visitors annually.WSPT Annual Visitor Monitoring 2009/2010 In addition, the parkland provided lands for the 2000

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

History

The Parkland was an area of specialty for the

Darug The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

people and it is still deemed as important by the

Aboriginal Land Council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

. The Parkland has been visited by some early

settlers A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

, such as Edward Abbott and George Johnson. The Parklands were planned in 1968, as

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

needed open space and recreational areas. In the late 1970s, the northern parts of the regional park had areas for rural residential lots (near

Horsley Park Horsley Park is a suburb 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 e ...

). In the year 2000, the parklands supplied venues for the Sydney Olympic Games. The boundaries of the park were completed in 2006. A year later, the walking and cycling track, which meander through the park, was finally finished and opened to public. In November 2019, school students planted over 140,000 trees in the parkland to the rejuvenate the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland community that once predominated the Sydney region.

Geography

The Parklands are formed by a series of connected green spaces, roughly following the western section of the M7 motorway and the

M7 cycleway The M7 cycleway is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians that is generally aligned with the Westlink M7 in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The southern terminus of the cycleway is located adjacent to the Camden Vall ...

. They form an elongated shape, narrow in the east-west direction. The Parklands are bounded by the M7 motorway in the north, and begin in the suburb of Dean Park in the north, then largely follow the eastern side of the M7 motorway south to reach the

M4 Western Motorway The M4 Motorway is a dual carriageway partially tolled motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is designated as the M4 route. The M4 designation is part of the wider A4 and M4 route designation, the M4 runs parallel/below grou ...

. The Parklands continue to follow the M7 motorway south, and near

Cecil Hills Cecil Hills is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cecil Hills is located 38 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool and is part of the Greater W ...

crosses the M7 motorway to incorporate parkland on the western side of the motorway, from where it continues south, and ends in the suburb of

Horningsea Park Horningsea Park is a heritage-listed homestead at Camden Valley Way, Horningsea Park, City of Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Joshua John Moore and built from 1830 to 1839. The property is owned by Liverpool City Co ...

. The park is around long, starting from the suburb of

Quakers Hill Quakers Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is westnorth-west (WNW) of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown. Quakers Hill is part of the Gre ...

in the north, to Leppington (

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

) in the south. It features a conspicuous

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

that runs through it from north to south, providing panoramic views of

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropo ...

. Every entrance to the parkland contains prominent planting accompanied by a large signage to indicate access. The Parklands contain the headwaters of

Eastern Creek Eastern Creek is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Creek is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the Blacktown local government area and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. ...

, as a tributary of the Hawkesbury-Nepean. The north-south ridgeline in the Parklands is the catchment boundary between the Hawkesbury-Nepean,

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...

and

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Se ...

catchments.

Ecology

Flora

The park has around 135 hectares of woodland areas, which are remnants of Cumberland Plain Woodland and features 180,000 plants. Most parts of the regional park are made up of 427 hectares of planted re-vegetation and cleared grassland areas. The Parkland's environment has remained very similar to how it was prior European contact. The park consists of 135 hectares of

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 (see ...

, with the majority comprising 427 hectares of planted vegetation and cleared

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 ...

areas. Until recently, the NSW Government has re-vegetated the area through the ''Greening Western Sydney Program''. The Parkland's

revegetation Revegetation is the process of replanting and rebuilding the soil of disturbed land. This may be a natural process produced by plant colonization and succession, manmade rewilding projects, accelerated process designed to repair damage to a la ...

has been going since the early 1990s. The parkland has three types of soil present, with the primary ones being Luddenham soil, which comes from Wianamatta Shale. Tree in the park include, Eucalyptus moluccana,

Forest Red Gum ''Eucalyptus tereticornis'', commonly known as forest red gum, blue gum or red irongum, is a species of tree that is native to eastern Australia and southern New Guinea. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in grou ...

Eucalyptus tereticornis ''Eucalyptus tereticornis'', commonly known as forest red gum, blue gum or red irongum, is a species of tree that is native to eastern Australia and southern New Guinea. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in grou ...

, Eucalyptus crebra,

Corymbia ''Corymbia'', commonly known as bloodwoods, is a genus of about one hundred species of tree that, along with ''Eucalyptus'', ''Angophora'' and several smaller groups, are referred to as eucalypts. Until 1990, corymbias were included in the gen ...

, Corymbia maculata,

Stringybark A stringybark can be any of the many ''Eucalyptus'' species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the family Myrtaceae. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species (in particular messmate strin ...

and

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 ...

. Shrubs include,

Blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

Bursaria spinosa ''Bursaria spinosa'' is a small tree or shrub in the family Pittosporaceae. The species occurs mainly in the eastern and southern half of Australia and not in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Reaching 10 m (35 ft) high, i ...

Themeda triandra } ''Themeda triandra'' is a species of perennial tussock-forming grass widespread in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass and in East Africa and South Africa it is known as red grass and re ...

, Themeda australis and

Microlaena stipoides ''Microlaena stipoides'', synonym ''Ehrharta stipoides'', is a species of grass. It occurs naturally in all states of Australia as well as in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines.DECC (2006) A Vertebrate Fauna Survey of Western Sydney Regional Park. Unpublished report. NPWS, Parramatta.

Fauna

The Park contains threatened and

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

which are protected under ''State and Commonwealth'' legislation. Wildlife in the parks includes many native species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia altho ...

s and bats. Foxes and

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...

s are not rare and not unheard of. The parklands from

, Glendenning and all the way to Bungarribee are home to a large population of Eastern Grey Kangaroos. There is also a substantial

Fallow Deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...

population also. Around eighty native

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

species exist within the parkland. Migratory birds are also known to visit. One group of birds that is present all year round are the parrots. Many

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

in the Parklands' trees are found, such as rainbow lorikeets,

rosella Rosellas are in a genus that consists of six species and nineteen subspecies. These colourful parrots from Australia are in the genus ''Platycercus''. ''Platycercus'' means "broad-tailed" or "flat-tailed", reflecting a feature common to the ...

red-rumped parrot The red-rumped parrot (''Psephotus haematonotus''), also known as the red-backed parrot or grass parrot, is a common bird of south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin. Taxonomy The red-rumped parrot was described by Joh ...

galah The galah (; ''Eolophus roseicapilla''), also known as the pink and grey cockatoo or rose-breasted cockatoo, is the only species within genus ''Eolophus'' of the cockatoo family. Found throughout Australia, it is among the most common of the ...

s and cockatoos. Threatened species in the park include, Meridolum corneovirens,

White-faced heron The white-faced heron (''Egretta novaehollandiae'') also known as the white-fronted heron, and incorrectly as the grey heron, or blue crane, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Ind ...

Grey-headed flying fox The grey-headed flying fox (''Pteropus poliocephalus'') is a megabat native to Australia. The species shares mainland Australia with three other members of the genus ''Pteropus'': the little red '' P. scapulatus'', spectacled '' P. conspicilla ...

, little eagle,

Eastern false pipistrelle 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 ''Falsistrellus'' is a genus o ...

Varied sittella The varied sittella (''Daphoenositta chrysoptera'') is a small, around 10–11 cm long, songbird native to Australia. It is also known as the Australian nuthatch, orange-winged sittella and the barkpecker. Taxonomy The varied sittella was f ...

, East-coast free-tailed bat,

Common bent-wing bat The common bent-wing bat (''Miniopterus schreibersii''), also known as the Schreibers's long-fingered bat or Schreibers's bat, is a species of insectivorous bat. They appear to have dispersed from a subtropical origin and distributed throughout ...

, Rüppell's broad-nosed bat and

Turquoise parrot The turquoise parrot (''Neophema pulchella'') is a species of parrot in the genus ''Neophema'' native to Eastern Australia, from southeastern Queensland, through New South Wales and into North-Eastern Victoria. It was described by George Shaw ...

. Other species include Pandion haliaetus,

Haliastur sphenurus The whistling kite (''Haliastur sphenurus'') is a medium-sized diurnal raptor found throughout Australia (including coastal islands), New Caledonia and much of New Guinea (excluding the central mountains and the northwest). Also called the whis ...

, Haliaeetus leucogaster, Phascogale tapoatafa, Petaurus australis,

Petaurus norfolcensis The squirrel glider (''Petaurus norfolcensis'') is a nocturnal gliding possum. The squirrel glider is one of the wrist-winged gliders of the genus ''Petaurus''. Habitat This species' home range extends from Bordertown near the South Australia ...

and

Petaurus breviceps The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its abilit ...

Recreational features

The parklands have 16 precincts and 50 park areas and has space for 3,000 people/visitors. From north to south, the following parks, reserves, geographical features and sporting facilities are incorporated into the Western Sydney Parklands. Most of the precincts below feature picnic and

BBQ Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...

areas, pathways (for

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...

or walking) and children's playgrounds. ;Northern Parklands: *

Bungarribee Bungarribee is a suburb of Blacktown, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bungarribee is located approximately 37 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and is par ...

– A 200-hectare park which features an open space and two sealed tracks, in addition to one of Sydney’s largest off-leash dog environments. A large playground with climbing tower also exists, in addition to a large wetland that contains

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the ...

s. Picnic shelters and barbeques are present. The area incorporates a commercial activity, the

Sydney Zoo Sydney Zoo is a zoo in Bungarribee in the Western Sydney Parklands, in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Sydney Zoo is located west of the Sydney central business district. It occupies a site. Sydney Zoo is a member of the ...

. *

Nurragingy Reserve The Nurragingy Nature Reserve is an Australian open urban park and forest, nature reserve and garden, it is a protected area owned by Western Sydney Parklands Trust and operated by Blacktown City Council that opened in 1981. The Nature Reserve is ...

– To the northern ends of the park, features a

Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate ...

, lake and a picnic spot. * Blacktown Olympic Park * The Rooty Hill ;Southern Parklands: *

Prospect Nature Reserve Prospect Nature Reserve is a nature reserve and recreational area that is situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which incorporates the Prospect Reservoir, and also features picnic spots, lookouts, walking tr ...

* Eastern Creek International Raceway * Western Sydney Regional Park – A 583 hectare park that features scenic picnic spots, recreational facilities, walking tracks and children's playgrounds ** TreeTops Adventure Park ** Calmsley Hill City Farm **

Sydney International Equestrian Centre The Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC for short) is the facility which was used to host equestrian events during the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Paralympics. The centre is located 45 kilometres from Sydney's business district ...

* Shale Hills *

Western Sydney International Dragway Sydney Dragway, also known as WSID for its former name, Western Sydney International Dragway, is a $30 million, purpose built quarter mile drag racing facility that opened in February, 2004. WSID is based on international specifications and combi ...

Sydney International Shooting Centre The Sydney International Shooting Centre in Cecil Park, New South Wales, Australia was built for the shooting events at the 2000 Summer Olympics. It has also been used for ISSF World Cup events in 2002, 2004, 2007 and the 2007 rifle and pistol e ...

* Kemps Creek Nature Reserve In addition to above, the Parklands contains market gardens, former military places and infrastructural facilities such as

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

canal, pipelines, electricity, gas and water easements, waste services, water storage tanks and telecommunications towers. Heritage sites include the

Upper Canal System The Upper Canal System, also called the Southern Railway Aqueduct and the Cataract Tunnel, is a heritage-listed operational gravity-fed aqueduct that supplies some of the potable water for Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The aqueduct co ...

, The Rooty Hill,

Bungarribee Homestead The Bungarribee Homestead Site is a heritage-listed archaeological site at the location of the former Bungarribee Homestead. The site is located at Doonside Road, Doonside, City of Blacktown, Sydney New South Wales, Australia. It was added to ...

complex archaeological site.

References

External links

Plan of ManagementWestern Sydney Parklands BiodiversityPlan management of Sydney Regional Park"The Lungs for Sydney's West"
{{Olympic venues cycling Nature reserves in New South Wales Parks in Sydney Protected areas of New South Wales Urban forests Forests of New South Wales City of Blacktown Regional parks in Australia Protected areas established in 1968 1968 establishments in Australia Olympic cycling venues Venues of the 2000 Summer Olympics City of Fairfield City of Liverpool (New South Wales) Western Sydney