Imagine our landscape without Tomaree National Park
Scenically, our treed hills and coastlines bring us so much enjoyment and aesthetic pleasure, not to mention their drawcard for tourism, and the economic benefit the national park brings to the local area. Tomaree National Park enriches our lives in many fantastic ways.
Most importantly, Tomaree National Park protects a diversity of plants and animals, and is home to many endangered species. The park also protects spectacular geological features, an array of historical artefacts, a deep Worimi cultural fabric, as well as providing an essential drinking water source of high quality for the local community.
It is an important place so many of us cherish.
2024 is Tomaree National Park’s 40th birthday
It’s been 40 years since Tomaree National Park was first gazetted. This is something certainly worth celebrating and we are eternally grateful to the forward-thinking people who lobbied to protect the area.
Throughout 2024 the National Parks Association (Hunter) Port Stephens Group, through its two local groups,
is celebrating with a range of long and short walks, wildflower walks, night walks, a celebratory picnic with varied activities, and a Tomaree National Park forum.
There’s also special bush regeneration activities, as well as our regular Friends of Tomaree National Park bush regeneration sessions. Come along any time and meet our volunteers who help improve the integrity of the park.
See our calendar with a smorgasbord of Tomaree NP activities
You’re invited to share your most cherished features of Tomaree National Park!
We’re calling out to our community to help us build a treasure trove of Tomaree NP’s cherished features.
Share a photo or three of your most treasured aspects of Tomaree National Park
Views, trees, flowers, wildlife, rocky structures, favourite walks, wonderful textures, places of inspiration — anything you cherish about Tomaree National Park
See how to contribute and watch Tomaree’s Treasure Trove gradually build >>
From small beginnings, bigger things grow
Originally Tomaree NP was reserved in 1984 as just a thin coastal strip of 800 hectares between and around existing settlements on the southern edge of the Tomaree Peninsula. That was just one third of today’s wonderful park.
With parcels added over the next 23 years, the park today is 2402 hectares, a wider and longer coastal strip on the edge of the Tomaree Peninsula. Its large urban border and enclaves each create their threats to the integrity of the park.
Bit by bit the park grew
Tomaree National Park was reserved in 1984 as a thin coastal strip of 800 hectares between and around existing settlements on the southern edge of the Tomaree Peninsula.
Which date is the actual birthday?
This notice (opposite) indicated the first parcel of land, the thin coastal strip, was proclaimed and signed on 24 October 2024.
However, the excerpt from the gazette notice (below), shows the formal reservation of the park was the 9 November 2023.
The park was extended to 2310 hectares in 1996 with the addition of the water reserves that provide the water supply for the peninsula (managed with Hunter Water).
The Port Stephens lighthouse, associated grounds and ruins of the lighthouse keepers’ house were formally added to the park in January 2003.
In 2005, a small addition (29.5 hectares) was made to the park behind One Mile Beach, and in 2007 three small parcels of Crown land at various locations (45 hectares in total) were added to the park, bringing the total current area to 2402 hectares.
.
Now we need to secure corridors linking across Tomaree Peninsula
Connecting linkages and corridors are needed across the Tomaree Peninsula, and beyond, to enable wildlife movement, and encourage gene flow of plants and animals. This helps ensure the sustainability of the park’s biodiversity and those of associated bushland, such as Mambo Wetlands and Tilligerry Nature Reserve. Connected they help make all the bushland reserves more resilient.
We continue to lobby for additions to the park to help secure connecting linkages and corridors across the Tomaree Peninsula,. The Biodiversity corridor, an area of land extending from Nelson Bay Road to Taylors Beach, is a very important linkage to ensure it is retained as bushland, as it links with Mambo Wetlands and the Tilligerry Nature Reserve.
We continue to lobby for additions to the park to help secure connecting linkages and corridors across the Tomaree Peninsula,. The Biodiversity corridor, an area of land extending from Nelson Bay Road to Taylors Beach, is a very important linkage to ensure it is retained as bushland, as it links with Mambo Wetlands and the Tilligerry Nature Reserve.
We are also hopeful that land at Fishermans Bay will be added to the park in the near future. What a wonderful present to the park and community for Tomaree’s 40th birthday.
Advocating for Tomaree National Park
The National Parks Association (NPA), is a voluntary community group who advocates for national parks, both for protecting land and for supporting the effective management of national parks.
In Port Stephens, the NPA has two active groups.
- The NPA Port Stephens Walking Group has a program of walks to engender appreciation and understanding of national parks, plants and wildlife and other bushland or natural areas.
- The Friends of Tomaree National Park, an NPA-initiated program of the NPA, supports the national park through community action such as
- voluntarily working to enhance the integrity of the national park — all our bush regeneration activities within the national park are with the oversight and support of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
- advocating to uphold the principles of national parks
- collaborating with other groups, such as EcoNetwork Port Stephens, for bushland corridors and park additions.
Managing Tomaree National Park
In NSW, national parks are managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), a State Government agency. There are only a couple of national parks managed Federally, but they are all called national parks because they are significant at a national level.
National parks are reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife (NPW) Act to protect and conserve areas containing outstanding or representative ecosystems, natural or cultural features or landscapes or phenomena that provide opportunities for public appreciation and inspiration and sustainable visitor use.
The Tomaree National Park Plan of Management describes the values of the park and management directions, to balance the protection of the values with the various threats to the park’s integrity and its recreational opportunities. The NPWS website promotes how we can recreate and enjoy the national park.