Editing Sydney Harbour National Park

{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                   = protected
| name                   = Sydney Harbour National Park
| state                  = nsw
| iucn_category          = II
| image                  = Headlands (4603872649).jpg
| caption                = Headlands, Sydney Harbour
| image_alt              = 
| coordinates            = {{coord|33|47|48|S|151|17|30|E|display=inline,title}}
| relief                 = yes
| pushpin_label_position = 
| map_alt                = 
| nearest_town_or_city   = Sydney
| area                   = 3.92
| area_footnotes         = <ref name=oeh>{{cite web|title=Sydney Harbour National Park: Park management|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkManagement.aspx?id=N0039|work=Office of Environment and Heritage|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref>
| established            = {{start date|1975|4|4|df=y}}
| established_footnotes  = <ref name=oeh/>
| visitation_num         = 
| visitation_year        = 
| visitation_footnotes   = 
| managing_authorities   = [[National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)|NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service]]
| url                    = http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/Sydney-Harbour-National-Park
}}
The '''Sydney Harbour National Park''' is an [[List of national parks of Australia|Australian national park]] comprising parts of [[Port Jackson]], [[Sydney]] and its foreshores and various islands. The {{convert|392|ha|adj=on}} national park lies in [[New South Wales]] and was created progressively, from 1975.<ref name=oeh/>

The national park protects the landforms of [[Bradleys Head]], [[Clark Island (New South Wales)|Clark Island]], [[Dobroyd Head]], [[Fort Denison]], [[Georges Head Battery|Georges Head]], [[Goat Island (Port Jackson)|Goat Island]], [[Middle Head]], [[Nielsen Park]], [[Rodd Island]], [[Shark Island (Port Jackson)|Shark Island]], [[Sydney Heads]] including the [[North Head Quarantine Station|Quarantine Station]] at North Head and [[The Gap (Sydney)|The Gap]] bluff at South Head. The national park also protects the waterway between North Head and Dobroyd Head, defined as the North Sydney Harbour Aquatic Reserve. Parts of the national park lie outside the harbour and face the [[Tasman Sea]].<ref name=pom/>

The national park is managed by the [[National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)|NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service]].

==History==
[[File:Nielsen Park Port Jackson.JPG|thumb|left|The beach at [[Nielsen Park]], {{NSWcity|Vaucluse}}, part of the national park]]
Residential development has impacted a significant amount of the harbour foreshores over many years. Much of what remained was preserved partly due to the presence of military bases, and partly because of the work of conservationists. Early conservationists were responsible for stopping mining at [[Ashton Park]] in the 19th Century.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} Other places were saved because of people such as [[Niels Nielsen (Australian politician)|Niels Neilsen]], who became the New South Wales Minister for Lands and a strong advocate of a public reserve around Sydney Harbour.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} Nielsen was ahead of his time{{clarify|date=October 2014}} when he used the phrase "national park" in regard to the harbour foreshores, but Sydney eventually caught up with him.{{clarify|date=October 2014}}

It was not possible to undo all the damage done in past decades, but there was still much that could be preserved, and the 1960s were a particularly active time in this regard. In 1965 the [[Government of New South Wales]] began buying land around the foreshores, and the [[National Trust of Australia|National Trust]] suggested a national park in 1968. In the following year, the NSW Government announced a plan whereby it would buy [[Commonwealth of Australia|Commonwealth]] land around the harbour. The Sydney Harbour National Park was finally [[gazette#gazetted as a verb|gazetted]] in 1975, with Nielsen Park at Shark Bay being added in 1978. Extra land was transferred from Commonwealth to State Government control, and added to the national park in 1979; the historically important quarantine station at [[Manly, New South Wales|Manly]] was added in 1984.

==Features==
The national park is renowned for its sheltered beaches, tranquil picnic spots, rich [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]], colonial and military heritage, aquatic reserves and harbour islands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/~/media/Visitor/Files/PDF/Brochures/sydney-harbour-part1-pdf.ashx|type=PDF brochure|title=Sydney Harbour National Park|work=[[National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)|NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service]]|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]|access-date=4 October 2014}}</ref>

The Guringai Resting Places, at both Reef Beach and Quarantine Station, are Aboriginal reburial sites where ancestral remains have been returned to Country. Access to the Aboriginal burial sites is restricted at the request of the Aboriginal community.<ref>{{cite web|title=Atlas of Aboriginal Places: Guringai Resting Place: Reef Beach|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/aboriginalplaces/GuringaiReefBeach.htm|work=Office of Environment and Heritage|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]|date=21 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Atlas of Aboriginal Places: Guringai Resting Place: Quarantine Station|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/aboriginalplaces/GuringaiQuarantineStation.htm|work=Office of Environment and Heritage|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]|date=21 May 2013}}</ref>

Military fortifications, at the [[Georges Head Battery]], Fort Denison, and North, Middle and South Heads stretch back to the early years of the colony. At the Quarantine Station there are archaeological features and over a thousand engravings. Historic sites include [[Greycliffe House]], erected at Shark Bay by the Wentworth family in neo-Gothic style during the 1850s; and the mast of the first {{HMAS|Sydney|1912|6}} at Bradleys Head. There is also a swimming beach at Nielsen Park, a restaurant and a cafe.<ref name=pom>{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/planmanagement/final/20120757SydneyHarbourNPFinal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625144721/http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/planmanagement/final/20120757SydneyHarbourNPFinal.pdf |archive-date=2014-06-25 |url-status=live|type=PDF brochure|title=Sydney Harbour National Park: Plan of management|work=[[National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)|NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service]]|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]|date=December 2012|isbn=978-1-74293-815-8}}</ref>

==See also==
{{stack|{{portal|New South Wales|Environment}}}}
* [[Protected areas of New South Wales]]

==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
{{Wikivoyage}}
{{commons category|Sydney Harbour National Park}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/sydney-harbour-national-park|title=Sydney Harbour National Park|work=[[National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)|NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service]]|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/~/media/Visitor/Files/PDF/Brochures/sydney-harbour-part1-pdf.ashx|type=PDF brochure|title=Sydney Harbour National Park|work=[[National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)|NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service]]|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]}}
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/10816453@N00/sets/72157607844653978/ Picture of Sydney Harbour National Park (north)].
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/10816453@N00/sets/72157607852244865/ Picture of Sydney Harbour National Park (south)].

{{National Parks of New South Wales}}
{{Sydney landmarks}}
{{Parks in Sydney|state=autocollapse}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Sydney Harbour National Park| ]]
[[Category:National parks of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1975]]
[[Category:1975 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Geography of Sydney]]
[[Category:Sydney Harbour]]