Yanga National Park

Yanga National Park New South Wales
IUCN category II (national park)
Murrumbidgee River at the Mamanga campground
Yanga National Park
Nearest town or city	Balranald
Coordinates	34°39′S 143°35′E / 34.650°S 143.583°E / -34.650; 143.583Coordinates: 34°39′S 143°35′E / 34.650°S 143.583°E / -34.650; 143.583
Established	February 2007
Area	667334 (includes 1,932 hectares (4,770 acres) of Yanga Nature Reserve)
Managing authorities	NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
See also	Protected areas of New South Wales

The Yanga National Park is a newly formed national park, located near the township of Balranald in south- western New South Wales. It covers an area of 66,734 hectares (164,900 acres) which includes 1,932 hectares (4,770 acres) of Yanga Nature Reserve, and has a frontage of 170 kilometres (110 mi) on the Murrumbidgee River. It is largely located in the Lower Murrumbidgee Floodplain (or Lowbidgee Floodplain), which is included on A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia because of its importance as a breeding site for waterbirds when flooded.

Yanga was formerly an important pastoral station established by William Wentworth, an explorer, in the 1830s. In July 2005, the New South Wales Government announced that it had purchased the station for the creation of a national park. The area was gazetted a national park on 28 February 2007, and also encompasses the 1,932-hectare (4,770-acre) Yanga Nature Reserve which was created in 1974 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW). The Yanga National Park is now part of the larger Murrumbidgee Valley National Park. The Murrumbidgee Valley National Park was created in 2010, with the park protecting part of what is now the largest continuous tract of river red gum forest in the world.

Yanga National Park lies within the traditional tribal areas the Muthi Muthi people. The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service has recognised the importance of aboriginal sites to the aboriginal and broader community, so have developed an Aboriginal sites register covering the park. The register currently includes mounds, scarred trees, historic sites, burials and middens. The National Parks & Wildlife Service have a statutory role in the protection and preservation of Aboriginal sites.

Yanga National Park is also an area of significance for early European settlement in the area. At the time, Yanga Station was the largest privately owned station in the southern hemisphere, covering 210,000 acres (85,000 ha). Yanga homestead was built around 1870, and still stands today. Before the property was purchased in 2005, the site was mostly freehold except for the 1,932 hectares (4,770 acres) of crown land of Yanga Nature Reserve. Prior to the purchase, the majority (over 90%) of the land was used for grazing.