Currawinya is a national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 near Hungerford

Hungerford, Queensland

Hungerford is a locality in outback Queensland, Australia, immediately north of the border with New South Wales and the Dingo fence. At the 2006 census, Hungerford and the surrounding area had a population of 59. Surrounding the town is the Currawinya National Park.-History:The town is named after...

 in south west Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, 828 km west of Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

. Part of the mulga lands

Mulga Lands

The Mulga Lands are an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia region of eastern Australia consisting of dry sandy plains scattered with mulga trees.-Location and description:...

 bioregion this is an area of dry sandy plain with small trees and shrubs. The Paroo River

Paroo River

The Paroo River is a river in Eastern Australia and is often considered to be major tributary of the Darling River in eastern Australia, although its flow generally dissipates before it reaches the Darling...

 passes through the park.

History

The park contains many Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

' sites of cultural significance, which indicate a long period of Aboriginal occupation and use of the wetlands within the park.

The park was previously pastoral land

Pastoralism

Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...

. In 1991, the Government of Queensland

Government of Queensland

The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...

 purchased two properties, Currawinya and Caiwarro Homestead. Remains of the homestead, machinery and a levee

Levee

A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...

 bank still exist today.

Environment

Lakes Numalla and Wyara within the park are listed as Ramsar

Ramsar

Ramsar is a city in and the capital of Ramsar County, Mazandaran Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 31,659, in 9,421 families....

 wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

 sites of international importance. Lake Numalla is freshwater while Lake Wyara is saline. These provide significant waterbird habitats at times of drought and for migrating waders which travel across inland Australia. 200 bird species have been recorded in the park. Most of the park lies within the Paroo Floodplain and Currawinya Important Bird Area

Paroo Floodplain and Currawinya Important Bird Area

The Paroo Floodplain and Currawinya Important Bird Area is a 7874 km2 site comprising the floodplain and the associated wetlands of the Paroo River in north-western New South Wales and south-western Queensland, Australia...

, identified as such by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 because of its importance, when conditions are suitable, for large numbers of waterbirds.

Facilities and attractions

Fishing, canoeing and swimming are popular recreational activities in the park.

A feature of the park is a 25 square km bilby

Bilby

Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. Before European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. One became extinct in the 1950s; the other survives but remains endangered....

 enclosure surrounded by a predator proof fence. The enclosure was opened in 2001. Captive bred and rehabilitated bilbies thrive within the safety of the enclosure.

See also

• List of Ramsar sites in Australia
• Protected areas of Queensland
  Protected areas of Queensland
  Queensland is the second largest state in Australia. It contains 470 separate Protected Areas with a total land area of 69,388 km² . 223 of these are National parks, which is the highest number of any Australian state or territory, totalling 65,871 km²...