Australian outback station turned into national park to protect threatened species

A piece of Australian outback which is almost bigger than greater London has converted in the national park. This national park will protect threatened species, authorities said Saturday, in a move welcomed by green groups.

Narrierra Station is situated in northwest New South Wales. The outback is a 1,534-square kilometre (592-square-mile) vast property. It is the biggest purchase of private land for national parks ever made by the state government, Environment Minister Matt Kean said.

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It stretches across floodplains, wetlands and landscapes "currently not found anywhere in NSW national parks", he added.

The price tag for the property is still unknown.

"Narriearra is an important refuge for threatened wildlife, with more than 25 threatened animal species, including nearly 90 per cent of NSW's critical habitat and breeding areas for the nationally endangered Grey Grasswren," said Kean.

Several indigenous artefacts, tools and stone arrangements have been found in the area and local Aboriginal Land Council has been invited to suggest a name for the park, he added.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) welcomed the new park.

"This new National Park is an example of the ambitious action required to slow and reverse the biodiversity extinction crisis," WWF Australia's Stuart Blanch said but added NSW needed to do more.

Stuart has urged the government to employ people from the indigenous community to manage the land and protect important sites.

Conservation organisation Pew Charitable Trusts also hailed the move.

"The Outback landscapes in western New South Wales have not been highly protected and the scale of this historic purchase is exciting," the group's Australian director Barry Traill said.