A commemorative plaque was laid at the Mount Grenfell Historic Site on Saturday to acknowledge the Ngiyampaa cultural herit-age values and significance of the area.
A parcel of 15,000 hectares around Mount Grenfell was formally handed back to the Ngiyampaa people during a visit to the site in December 2020 by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Environment Minister Matt Kean.
The newly reserved area is known as the Mount Grenfell National Park (an area of 9,209 hectares) and the Mount Grenfell State Conser-vation Area, which encompasses a further 6,340 hectares.
Together they form a protective ring around the culturally significant Mount Grenfell site so that it will be protected in perpetuity for the Ngiyampaa people.
The Mount Grenfell Board of Management arranged for the day of celebration for the com-munity on Saturday now that COVID re-strictions have been eased and 80 people gath-ered to celebrate the reservation of the site.
National Parks & Wildlife Service’s Central West Area Manager, Fiona Buchanan, attended Saturday’s ceremony and spoke about what led to the reservation of the land and the signifi-cance of the site.
“It has amazing birdlife out here. There are over 130 species of birds including some high-ly threatened species and a number of protected species of bats, that live in the hollows of the trees and in the caves,” Ms Buchanan said.
“This land has over 195 species of flora and fauna, animals, mammals, reptiles and birds that live out here on the national park.
“We at National Parks have been working closely with the Mt Grenfell board of manage-ment to help care for both the cultural values and for the conservation.
“It’s not only the strong culture values that you all know and that is part of you and part of this land, there are also some really strong eco systems out here on the Mt Grenfell lands,” Ms Buchanan said.
Chair of the Board of Management, Colin Clark, spoke about the hard work done by com-munity members over a long time to make the hand-back happen and said he is pleased to see it will be preserved for generations to come.
