Castlereagh Nature Reserve facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Castlereagh Nature Reserve New South Wales
IUCN Category Ia (Strict Nature Reserve)
Castlereagh Nature Reserve Location in New South Wales
Nearest town or city	Castlereagh
Established	December 1995 (1995-12)
Area	4.95 km2 (1.9 sq mi)
Managing authorities	NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
Website	Castlereagh Nature Reserve
See also	Protected areas of New South Wales

The Castlereagh Nature Reserve is a special protected area, like a park, located in the western part of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This reserve covers about 495 hectares (that's like 1,223 acres!). It's about 60 kilometers west of central Sydney, close to towns like Penrith, Castlereagh, and Londonderry.

The reserve's edges are marked by The Northern Road on the west and Llandilo Road on the east. Rural properties are to the south, and the Castlereagh Waste Management Centre is to the north. Before becoming a nature reserve in 1995, it was called Castlereagh State Forest. It was used for timber production from 1917 to 1988.

Discover Castlereagh Nature Reserve

What makes the land special?

The Castlereagh Nature Reserve sits on a unique type of ground. It has ancient river deposits called alluvials. These deposits create layers of clay, sand, gravel, and shale deep underground. The reserve is mostly flat, sitting about 30 to 40 meters above sea level. It has wide, shallow dips that form a small network for water drainage. After heavy rain, small, shallow lakes can form in the northern part of the reserve. This is where gravel was once taken out when it was a production forest.

Amazing Plants and Trees

The reserve is home to open forests that grow on clay soils. These forests are mostly filled with broad-leaved ironbark trees. You might also spot other types of eucalyptus trees like mugga ironbark, thin-leaved stringybark, woollybutt, and scribbly gum.

Some very rare and special plant species live here too. These include Dillwynia tenuifolia, Pultenea parviflora, Acacia bynoeana, dwarf casuarina, nodding geebung, and Micromyrtus minutiflora.

Luckily, the reserve doesn't have many harmful weeds. You might see a few slash pines in the north. These were planted a long time ago, in the 1920s and 1930s, as part of a trial. During World War II, many ironbark trees were cut down. Also, illegal timber collection and many fires have thinned out the forest. This means some areas don't have many old, mature trees.

Wildlife in the Reserve

The Castlereagh Nature Reserve is a home for many different animals. You can find mammals like sugar gliders, brush-tailed possums, and eastern grey kangaroos.

It's also a habitat for reptiles and amphibians. Keep an eye out for eastern brown snakes, red-bellied black snakes, and lace monitors. Many frog species live here, including the endangered green and golden bell frog.

Protecting the Environment

How the Reserve is Cared For

In the past, some areas of the reserve needed help to recover. For example, in 1987, over 3,000 young trees were planted around old gravel pits. However, these plantings didn't grow well. Because of past logging and other plantings, some parts of the reserve now have many young trees. This has changed the types and numbers of plants and animals found there.

A small area in the northwest, next to the Castlereagh Waste Management Centre, was once used to dispose of heavy metals like zinc, cadmium, and lead. In 1996, this contaminated soil was removed. It was replaced with clean soil from the local area. The quality of the groundwater is regularly checked at six different spots by Waste Services.

The Role of Fire

Fire has played a big part in shaping the plants in the reserve. The last major fire happened in 1982. It burned over 75 percent of the reserve. This changed the types of plants growing under the main trees in the forest and woodland areas. More recently, in November 2016, a fire started near The Northern Road Londonderry. It burned through 336 hectares of the nature reserve before it was stopped.

Interesting Past Events

In 1957, a Vampire fighter jet crashed into what was then Castlereagh State Forest. Luckily, the pilot was able to safely eject from the plane.