Livingstone National Park

Livingstone National Park New South Wales
IUCN category II (national park)
Livingstone National Park
Nearest town or city	Mangoplah
Coordinates
Established	January 2001
Area	19.19 km2 (7.4 sq mi)
Managing authorities	New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service
See also	Protected areas of New South Wales

Livingstone is a national park and state conservation area located 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Wagga Wagga and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Mangoplah, in the South West Slopes region of south western New South Wales.

History

The national park originally was proclaimed as a State Forest in 1915 for timber located within the forest which was to be preserved for the town of Junee. A branch line from Mangoplah to Westby was located next to the state forest to carry timber but was later dismantled. A report by the New South Wales Forestry Commission found that the forest was only one of its type left, with further studies on the forest found a colony of squirrel gliders, which are the only two colonies left within southern New South Wales, three types of orchids and over 100 species of native birds. In 1976, the Wagga Wildlife and Conservation Society requested that the state forest to be gazetted as a national park after it was under threat however the request was turned down. In January 2001 the state forest was gazetted as a national park with an area of 1,919 hectares.

Environment

The park has four types of vegetation, including grass trees, mallee, kangaroo grass and open forest. It is part of the South-west Slopes of NSW Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for the conservation of swift parrots and superb parrots.

See also

• Protected areas of New South Wales