NSW to add two wetlands to national parks under 33,000ha land purchase

Two nationally significant wetlands in far north New South Wales will be added to the national parks estate as part of a 33,000ha land purchase by the state government, Guardian Australia can reveal.

The acquisition includes the Lake Wombah wetlands on the Queensland border, and more than 7,000ha of the Yantabulla Swamp.

The wetlands are estimated to host some 70,000 waterbirds, as well as an array of small native mammals and insects.

The area is traditional country for the Budjiti and Barkandji people, and the property is believed to contain extensive evidence of cultural artefacts and other items of significance.

The acquisition is the latest in a series of land purchases since 2019, which brought to an end the long hiatus in national parks estate acquisition since the Coalition took power in NSW more than a decade ago.

Since 2019, the NSW government has added almost 600,000ha of land to its conservation estate, nearly tripling its initial target of 200,000ha by 2022, and bringing the state closer to its historical average of approximately one million hectares a decade.

The acquisition has been met with enthusiasm by environmental scientists.