Namadgi

Namadgi National Park was declared in 1984 and occupies close to half of the Australian Capital Territory, south-west of Canberra. It forms part of the Australian Alps, the range that runs along the south-east of the continent, and connects with Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales and with the Victorian alpine parks, forming a continuous protected corridor.

The relief is one of rounded mountains of granite and ancient sediments, with summits above 1,800 metres, grassy valleys, high-altitude bogs and eucalypt forests that change with altitude: dry forest at lower levels, wet forest in the gullies, and on the summits the snow gum, with its twisted trunks and mottled bark. In winter the high ground receives snow.

Namadgi is the traditional territory of the Ngunnawal people and preserves notable Aboriginal heritage, with painted rock shelters such as those at Yankee Hat, whose figures are among the most accessible in south-eastern Australia, as well as sites linked to the seasonal gatherings around the bogong moth, which the communities of the region collected on the summits. The park also protects the catchments that supply Canberra with water. The fires of 2003 and those of the 2019-2020 season affected a very considerable part of its area, and much of its forest is still recovering.