Nocoleche Nature Reserve
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The Nocoleche Nature Reserve is a conservation area in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
on the
Paroo River The Paroo River, a series of waterholes, connected in wet weather as a running stream of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the South West region of Queensland and Far West region of New South Wales, Aust ...
located 20
kilometre The kilometre (SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the ...
s
south South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
of the town of
Wanaaring, New South Wales Wanaaring is a remote outback village in north western New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Paroo River, some 980 kilometres from Sydney, and 180 km west of Bourke. At the , Wanaaring had a population of 81. Wanaaring is on the "Cu ...
. It was created in 1979,'''' and has an area of 711.08 km².


History

The
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of the Paroo are the Budjair, Kunja, and Mardgany in the north and the Paruntiji, meaning people belonging to the Paroo, in the south. Aboriginal people are known to have lived along the Paroo for at least 14,000 years. Graziers came as
squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...
s to the Paroo in the 1840s. They met resistance from the Aboriginal land owners, and tensions in the area continued well into the 1860s. From the 1850s however a shortage of white labour caused by the exodus to the gold fields saw many in the Aboriginal communities join the pastoral workforce. Aboriginal people continued to be a significant part of this work force for many decades whilst still maintaining their cultural traditions and attending local and regional ceremonies until the 1910s. From the 1920s however, Aboriginal people began to be forcibly removed from their land by government policy. In the 1880s through to the early twentieth century however, drought, severe overstocking and rabbit infestation led to massive damage to land, soil and native plants and animals. Nocoleche station was established some time before 1887 by
Frederick William Armytage Frederick William Armytage (1838-1912) was an Australian pastoralist. He was the sixth son of George Armytage. He was born on 17 October 1838 in Bagdad, Van Diemen's Land. His family moved to Geelong, Colony of New South Wales in 1851 (the are ...
. By the early twentieth century the property was one of four substantial runs leased by Sir Samuel McCaughey on the
Darling River The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...
. His total holdings were 3.2 million acres where he experimented with a number of farming implements and technologies, including using heavy machinery for ploughing and soil excavation, mechanised sheep shearing and widespread irrigation. The station changed hands eight times between Armytage and when the National Parks and Wildlife Service took ownership in 1978.


Description

The covers the Paroo River, Cuttaburra Creek, Sandy Creek, Aarons Creek and Kulkyne Creek, and represents the largest wetland in the state by area. A large proportion, close to , representing 16%, of Nocoleche Nature Reserve is floodplain wetland.


Ecosystem

Nocoleche Nature Reserve is dominated by mulga and white wood vegetation as well as Poplar box and
black box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...
. The Paroo River forms the eastern boundary of the reserve and it is here there is the large stand of the rare yapunyah is found. Nocoleche Nature Reserve
Large areas of yapunyah (''Eucalyptus ochrophloia'') woodland can be found on the Paroo and Warrego Rivers and Cuttaburra Creek. Other plant species of conservation significance include the algae ''
Chara braunii ''Chara braunii'' is one of only several ecorticate species of the genus '' Chara'' occurring in Europe and the only species without cortication known from Poland.Jacek Urbaniak, "Distribution of ''Chara braunii'' Gmellin 1826 (''Charophyta'') ...
'', spikegrass (''
Elytrophorus spicatus ''Elytrophorus spicatus'' (common name spikegrass) is a small plant in the Poaceae family native to Africa, the Indian subcontinent, south-east Asia and Australia. Description ''Elytrophorus spicatus'' is a tufted, annual or perennial plant wi ...
''), downy mother of misery ('' Cuphonotus andraeanus''), chariot wheels (''
Maireana cheelii ''Maireana cheelii'', commonly known as chariot wheels, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small, erect perennial with more or less terete leaves, bisexual flowers arranged ...
''), silver turkey bush ('' Eremophila bowmannii ssp latifolia'') and corkbark (''
Hakea ivoryi ''Hakea ivoryi'' , commonly known as Ivory's hakea, corkwood or the corkbark tree, is a shrub or small tree in the family ''Proteaceae'' and is endemic to an area in the South West region of Queensland and the north west of New South Wales. Des ...
''). Nocoleche is an important stop-over for migratory birds. Large mammals include
Red kangaroo The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the Largest mammals#Marsupials (Marsupialia), largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, exce ...
s (''Macropus rufus''),
eastern grey kangaroo The eastern grey kangaroo (''Macropus giganteus'': gigantic large-foot; also great grey kangaroo or forester kangaroo) is a marsupial found in the eastern third of Australia, with a population of several million. Although a large ''M. giganteus ...
s (''Macropus gigantus''),
western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, i ...
s (''Macropus fuliginosus'') and common
wallaroo Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies, that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'' wi ...
s (''Macropus robustus''), which are common throughout the nature reserve. Fish including yellowbelly (''
Macquaria ambigua The golden perch (''Macquaria ambigua'') is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, an ...
''),
Murray cod The Murray cod (''Maccullochella peelii'') is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the genus '' Maccullochella'' in the family Percichthyidae.Dianne J. Bray & Vanessa J. Thompson (2011Murray Cod, Maccullochella peelii Fishes of Au ...
(''Maccullochella peelii''),
silver perch Silver perch is a common name for several fishes and may refer to: *'' Bairdiella chrysoura'', native to the east coast of the United States *''Bidyanus bidyanus The silver perch (''Bidyanus bidyanus'') is a medium-sized freshwater fish of the ...
(''Bidyanus bidyanus'') and catfish (''
Tandanus tandanus The eel-tailed catfish (''Tandanus tandanus'') is a species of catfish (order (biology), order Siluriformes) of the family (biology), family Plotosidae. This fish is also known as dewfish, freshwater catfish, jewfish, and tandan. This species ...
'') are found in the Paroo river and are sought by professional and recreational fishers. Cats, rabbits, goats, and foxes are all pests within the park.


Significance

The Paroo River is not yet affected by river regulation and diversions, making it the last major free-flowing river in the Murray-Darling Basin. Both the Paroo and
Warrego River The Warrego River is an intermittent river that is part of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, which is located in South West Queensland and in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The Warrego River is the north ...
s have extremely high conservation value.
Different types of wetlands with distinctive vegetation communities are found within the nature reserve. Plants, waterbirds, frogs, reptiles, fish and many invertebrates rely on these wetlands up and down the Paroo River.
Of the seven different types of wetland identified in the Paroo and Warrego River catchments, Nocoleche Nature Reserve has claypans, river channels and waterholes, Eleocharis swamps, lignum swamps and black box swamps. It does not have large freshwater lakes or salt lakes.
Nocoleche Nature Reserve is the only known location in New South Wales of ''Aponogeton sp. aff. Queenslandicus'' and the endangered '' Dentella minutissima''.


Heritage

To date only seven Aboriginal sites have been formally recorded from Nocoleche Nature Reserve. European buildings that remain include the shearers’ quarters, cooks’ quarters, shearing overseer's cottage, store room, shower room/block, and toilet block.


See also

* Nocoleche


Gallery

These photographs were taken in February 2023 after several good seasons and major rains in the catchment in November 2022. File:P1220012 From the eastern side of King Charlie Waterhole.jpg, King Charlie Waterhole File:20230120 082335 Woolshed Swamp.jpg, A Lignum Swamp File:20230123 124737 Cuttaburra Channel.jpg, Cuttaburra Channel File:20230123 131915 Corallia outstation remains.jpg, Corallia outstation remains File:20230124 110723 Claypan.jpg, Claypan with small catchment File:20230124 173914 Habitat of Lobelia darlingensis.jpg, Claypan with large catchment File:20230121 081705 Eucalyptus ochrophloia - yapunyah.jpg, '' Eucalyptus ochrophloia'' - yapunyah File:20230120 132537 Suspension Bridge.jpg, Remains of suspension bridge built in 1929 File:P1230004 Dentella minutissima.jpg, '' Dentella minutissima'' File:P1230011 Dentella minutissima.jpg, Habitat of Dentella minutissima


References


Sources

* Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
{{Nature reserves of New South Wales , state=autocollapse Nature reserves in New South Wales Far West (New South Wales) Important Bird Areas of New South Wales