Ecological Health Performance Scorecard report Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area 2022–23

Abstract

Measuring ecological health Our national parks are extraordinary places. They make up over 10% of New South Wales across various desert, alpine and coastal ecosystems. Almost 800 of the approximately 900 threatened species in New South Wales are found on the national park estate. Royal National Park, Australia’s first national park and one of the first national parks in the world, was established in 1879. Along with the adjacent Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area, it protects a suite of important natural and cultural habitats and a diversity of native species on the southern edge of Sydney, Australia’s largest city of over 5 million people. For these reasons, the Royal–Heathcote–Garawarra (RHG) complex is a fitting choice as the first site implementing the NPWS Ecological Health Performance Scorecards program (‘Scorecards’).