Australia National Parks

Australia, the driest continent of the world, is the home of several national parks and wild life sanctuaries. Australia has the biggest national park system in the whole world which covers 24 million hectares. Australian national parks draw thousands of tourists every year. The Australian national parks cover about 7.55% of the total land area of Australia. Apart from these national parks there are other parks which are located in the external areas of Australia like Christmas Island, Heard and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island. The creation and administration of national parks and other areas is the responsibility of State governments. At present, 516 national parks of Australia cover 3.42% of the land surface and are registered under federal and State legislation. The main national parks which are administered by the Federal Government include:

• Kakadu National Park
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Booderee National Park
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
• Norfolk, Christmas and Cocos Islands

Booderee National Park and Booderee Botanic Gardens are the names of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community for the earlier Commonwealth Jervis Bay National Park and Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens. This park is located three hours from Sydney or Canberra on the southern coast of New South Wales between Ulladulla and Nowra. The National Park and Botanic Gardens were handed back to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community in 1995. the Booderee National Park provide a range of recreational activties with a natural background. Camping at the Booderee National Park is facilitated by the wode range of amenities offered at this park.

The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park lies south-west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. This park became a member of the Commonwealth National Park on 24 May, 1977.