Nightcap National Park marks 40 years of protection

Local community recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the creation of Nightcap National Park – an ancient World Heritage-listed rainforest near Lismore in north-eastern NSW.

The park was created in 1983 following ground-breaking environmental protests in 1979 and international recognition as a site on the World Heritage List in 1986.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Ranger Team Leader Matt Wiseman said the protests at Terania Creek, and the subsequent 'Rainforest Decision' by the NSW Government, was a turning point for Australia's environmental movement.

Wiseman notes "The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia contain the most extensive areas of subtropical rainforest in the world.

"The rainforests protect exceptional biological diversity, including plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth, and outstanding examples of major stages of the Earth's evolutionary history.

"The landmark Terania Creek environmental protest echoed, not only across Australia, but around the world, leading to the NSW Government halting all rainforest logging in New South Wales.

"It also resulted in Nightcap National Park being declared in mid-1983, as well as bringing more than 120,000 hectares of rainforest under the protection of the NPWS.

"The immense significance and beauty of these natural areas was then recognised internationally with a confirmed World Heritage-listing of the Gondwana Rainforests in 1986," said Mr Wiseman.

Last Sunday, people who participated in the protest movement of the late 70s and early 80s, Widjabul Wia-bal representatives, NPWS staff and members of the local community gathered to celebrate the national park and the history of the protest movement that ultimately resulted in the creation of Nightcap National Park.

Widjabul Wia-bal native title holders contributed significantly to the celebrations, with a performance by the Widjabul Wia-bal dancers and a moving speech from John Roberts Jr, who spoke of his father's intrinsic connection to country and desire to see it protected.

“It was very important for us at the event to pay our respects to the Bundjalung People, in particular the Widjabul Wia-bal People, who have inhabited the area for thousands of years. NPWS looks forward to the joint management relationship with native title holders under the new Widjabul Wia-bal Indigenous Land Use Agreement,” said Wiseman.

The rare and complex rainforest and wet eucalypt forest of Nightcap National Park protects many ancient sites of Aboriginal cultural significance that are still important to local Aboriginal people today.

Image. Birds Nest fern (Asplenium nidus), Nightcap National Park. Biogeographical area of the Nightcap and Kooynum Ranges. Credit: John Spencer /NSW Dept Planning and Environment