Copeland Tops State Conservation Area

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Copeland Tops State Conservation Area
New South Wales

Shatterwood & Birds Nest Ferns.JPG

Bird's nest ferns growing on shatterwood trees at Copeland Tops
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Copeland Tops State Conservation Area
Nearest town or city Gloucester
Coordinates 31°57′45″S151°48′05″E / 31.96250°S 151.80139°E / -31.96250; 151.80139 Coordinates: 31°57′45″S151°48′05″E / 31.96250°S 151.80139°E / -31.96250; 151.80139
Established 1 July 2003 (2003-07-01) [1]
Area 22.01 km2 (8.5 sq mi) [2]
Managing authorities NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Website Copeland Tops State Conservation Area

The Copeland Tops State Conservation Area is a protected conservation area located near the Barrington Tops in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The 2,201-hectare (5,440-acre) is situated 12 km (7 mi) west of Gloucester.

State park protected area managed at the federated state level

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, some of the Mexican states, and in Brazil. The term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa and Belgium, is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.

Habitat conservation

Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.

Hunter Region Region in New South Wales, Australia

The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately 120 km (75 mi) to 310 km (193 mi) north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and south. Situated at the northern end of the Sydney Basin bioregion, the Hunter Valley is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast, and is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry.

Contents

Features

Relics of the "Mountain Maid" gold mine may be visited with a tour guide. [2] Gold was discovered by timber collectors in 1875. By 1878, around one thousand people were living in the area. Most of the gold mining activity had ceased by 1890. [3] At the end of 1886, the Mountain Maid mine yielded 8,819 ounces (250,000 g) of gold. And the Hidden Treasure mine yielded 9,501 ounces (269,300 g). [4]

Australian gold rushes

During the Australian gold rushes, significant numbers of workers relocated to areas in which gold had been discovered. A number of gold finds occurred in Australia prior to 1851, but only the gold found from 1851 onwards created gold rushes. This is mainly because, prior to 1851, the colonial government of New South Wales had suppressed news of gold finds which it believed would reduce the workforce and destabilise the economy.

Flora include wet sclerophyll eucalyptus forest and a unique "dry" rainforest. Rainforest trees present include shatterwood, black booyong, Moreton Bay fig, and the white cedar. Some of the red cedar grow in excess of 40 metres (130 ft) tall. Of note is the large epiphytic ferns growing in the rainforest, such as birds nest ferns, staghorn fern, and elkhorn ferns.

Sclerophyll A type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf).

<i>Eucalyptus</i> genus of plants

Eucalyptus is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae commonly known as eucalypts. Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is smooth, fibrous or stringy, leaves with oil glands, and sepals and petals that are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens. The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut". Australia is covered by 92,000,000 hectares of eucalypt forest, comprising three quarters of the area covered by native forest.

<i>Ficus macrophylla</i> species of plant

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots. As Ficus macrophylla is a strangler fig, seed germination usually takes place in the canopy of a host tree and the seedling lives as an epiphyte until its roots establish contact with the ground. It then enlarges and strangles its host, eventually becoming a freestanding tree by itself. Individuals may reach 60 m (200 ft) in height. The large leathery, dark green leaves are 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long.

Koalas, eastern grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, wombats, and greater gliders are some of the many marsupial animals found here. Microbats rest in the gold mine shafts during the day.

Koala An arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia.

The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats, which comprise the family Vombatidae.. The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, spoon-shaped nose. The koala has a body length of 60–85 cm (24–33 in) and weighs 4–15 kg (9–33 lb). Pelage colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in colour than their counterparts further south. These populations possibly are separate subspecies, but this is disputed.

Eastern grey kangaroo species of mammal

The eastern grey kangaroo is a marsupial found in southern and eastern Australia, with a population of several million. It is also known as the great grey kangaroo and the forester kangaroo. Although a big eastern grey male typically masses around 66 kg and stands almost 2 m (6.6 ft.) tall, the scientific name, Macropus giganteus, is misleading: the red kangaroo of the semi-arid inland is larger, weighing up to 90 kg.

Wombat family of mammals

Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. They are about 1 m (40 in) in length with small, stubby tails. There are three extant species and they are all members of the family Vombatidae. They are adaptable and habitat tolerant, and are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, as well as an isolated patch of about 300 ha in Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Statement of Management Intent: Copeland Tops State Conservation Area" (PDF). Office of Environment and Heritage (PDF). Government of New South Wales. June 2014. ISBN   978-1-74359-680-7 . Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Copeland Tops State Conservation Are: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales . Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Information Sign, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
  4. ↑ "Copeland Gold Deposits: Prime Fact" (PDF). Department of Primary Industries . Government of New South Wales . Retrieved 29 August 2012.
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