New national park for Mid-West

Collier Range National Park. Photo Credit: Localista.

A new national park has been created in the Mid West-Gascoyne region. The Jilgu National Park spans 102,000 hectares of scenic mulga country interspersed with rugged hills and watercourses.

Jidi Jidi Aboriginal Corporation will jointly manage the park and the existing Collier Range National Park with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Five Traditional Owners will be employed to care for Country, with future investment in nature-based tourism and other economic opportunities also a possibility.

Jilgu National Park was formerly part of the Waldburg pastoral lease purchased by the State Government for conservation more than 20 years ago.

The Western pebble-mound mouse creates its own microhabitat by scattering a mound of pebbles around its burrow. The air temperature around the pebbles warms up faster in the morning than the pebbles, resulting in the formation of dew.

The park is home to many species of native wildlife, including black-flanked rock wallaby, western pebble mound mouse, long-tailed dunnart, brush-tailed mulgara and peregrine falcon, as well as three priority ecological communities which are not protected in any other reserves.