The Bouddi National Park is a coastal

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

that is located in the Central Coast region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The national park is situated northeast of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. A section of the national park extends into the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

, creating fully protected land, shore and marine habitats. The park contains one of the last mature temperate rainforests on the Central Coast, Fletchers Glen.

History

The Bouddi National Park was originally known as the ''Bouddi Natural Park''. It received its name at the second meeting of the park trust held on 5 July 1936. Other names considered were ''Maitland Bay Park'', ''Cape Three Points Reserve'' and ''Gerrinbombi Park''. The reason for the choice was that ''Bouddi'' is the authenticated aboriginal name of the most conspicuous feature of the district and appears on maps as early as 1828. Bouddi is an indigenous word for the heart. The trust had been founded the year earlier to manage the reserve and had representation from the ''NSW Federation of Bushwalking Clubs'' and Erina Shire Council. In 1967 the park, by then totalling about , was dedicated as a national park under the newly passed legislation and was renamed ''Bouddi State Park''. Its management became the responsibility of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and soon afterwards the trust was reconstituted as an advisory committee. On 1 January 1974, the National Parks and Wildlife Act dispensed with the category of state parks and Bouddi was renamed ''Bouddi National Park''.

Geology and climate

The rocks underlying the Bouddi peninsula is primarily

Hawkesbury sandstone Sydney sandstone, also known as the Hawkesbury sandstone, yellowblock, and yellow gold, is a sedimentary rock named after Sydney, and the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common. It forms the bedrock f ...

. The coastal areas contain several examples of

tessellated pavement In geology and geomorphology, a tessellated pavement is a relatively flat rock surface that is subdivided into polygons by fractures, frequently systematic joints, within the rock. This type of rock pavement bears this name because it is fracture ...

s and

laterite Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...

plateaus. There are also significant examples of the Terrigal Formation.

Biology

Flora

The Park contains three broad categories of vegetation:

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

, ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

'' forest and grassy woodland.

Fauna

The park contains a wide diversity of animal life. A number of mammal species, including

microbat Microbats constitute the suborder Microchiroptera within the order Chiroptera (bats). Bats have long been differentiated into Megachiroptera (megabats) and Microchiroptera, based on their size, the use of echolocation by the Microchiroptera an ...

greater glider The greater gliders are three species of large gliding marsupials in the genus ''Petauroides'', all of which are found in eastern Australia. Until 2020 they were considered to be one species, '' Petauroides volans''. In 2020 morphological and gen ...

s and other

marsupial Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a r ...

s are found in the Park. Reptile species present include lace monitors, green tree snakes and water dragons. Over 150 species of bird have been documented in the area. The marine component of the Park has similarly high biodiversity. The marine extension of the park was found to have led to a 70% increase in fish numbers in the area than nearby comparators, and 60% higher numbers of species. A number of large mammals regularly frequent the area, including

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s and bottlenose and

common dolphin The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, wit ...

s. Leopard seals and fur seals have occasionally been seen on coastal rock platforms.

Nearby National Parks

The following National Parks are within 50 km of Bouddi National Park:

References

External links

* *
Guide to Bouddi National Park
- bushwalks, beaches, lookouts and camping areas. ''Hiking the World.'' Retrieved 2 January 2021 * * {{authority control National parks of New South Wales Central Coast (New South Wales) Protected areas established in 1967 1967 establishments in Australia