The New South Wales government has just bought itself a nice little patch of land outside of Broken Hill. And when I say little, I actually mean enormous. 60,000 hectares of farmland has been purchased with the aim of turning it into an outback nature reserve. The property is home to at least 14 threatened species of native animal.
The Guardian reports that the sum paid for the land has not been disclosed—reckon it might’ve been a pretty penny—but is understood to have been funded by the NSW environment trust.
This purchase is the second largest national park land procurement in the past decade, with the NSW government 150,000 hectares of land in north west NSW in 2020.
“Land to the west of the Great Dividing Range supports a great diversity of wildlife, unique natural heritage and culturally important places, worthy of protection,” said NSW environment minister Matt Kean.
“This new park will be an important refuge for wildlife including at least 14 threatened animal species including habitat for the Australian bustard, white-fronted chat and the pink cockatoo,”
The land will become a national park, with guests expected to start being able to visit the area once the outback station is converted.
“In time, it is expected visitors will be able to explore sandplains and stony desert, gibber chenopod shrublands, floodplain woodland along watercourses and a lake system that provides habitat for a range of migratory bird species,” said a spokesman.
About Broken Hill:
Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is 315 m (1,033 ft) above sea level, with a hot desert climate, and an average rainfall of 235 mm (9 in). The closest major city is Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, which is more than 500 km (311 mi) to the southwest and linked via route A32.
The town is prominent in Australia’s mining, industrial relations and economic history after the discovery of silver ore led to the opening of various mines, thus establishing Broken Hill’s recognition as a prosperous mining town well into the 1990s. Despite experiencing a slowing economic situation into the late 1990s and 2000s, Broken Hill itself was listed on the National Heritage List in 2015 and remains Australia’s longest running mining town.
