We appreciate the support of the following partners in the development of the Ku-ring-gai GeoRegion.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is part of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. NPWS manages 9.5 per cent of the land area in the state. This includes national parks, nature reserves, flora reserves, World Heritage areas, rainforests, beaches, alpine areas and sites of great cultural and historic significance. Management of these areas involves a wide range of responsibilities, including plant and animal conservation, fire management, sustainable tourism and visitation, research, education, volunteering programs and more.

Local Government Agencies

Hornsby Shire Council The traditional inhabitants of the Hornsby Shire are the Aboriginal people of the Dharug and GuriNgai language groups. In 2016, about 0.4 % of the Shire’s population (665 people) identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent. European settlement in the Shire dates from 1794 when the first land grants were made along the Hawkesbury River, with land used mainly for farming. The opening of the Newcastle and North Shore railway lines in the 1890s resulted in Hornsby CBD becoming a railway town and a major centre. The Hornsby Local Government Area (LGA) otherwise known as the ‘Bushland Shire’ enjoys the benefits and convenience of city living with enviable access to pristine bushland and waterways. “It is the place where the city meets the bush”. The Hornsby LGA is bound by Wisemans Ferry and the Hawkesbury River to the north; Cowan Creek to the east; the M2 Motorway and parts of Ku-ring-gai LGA, City of Ryde, and City of Parramatta to the south; and the Hills LGA to the west. The LGA has an area of approximately 460 sq km, of which almost 70 % is characterised by bushland comprising national park, major waterways, natural reserves, and rural landscape. Of the remaining land, 10 % is zoned and used for urban purposes, 15 % is used for rural purposes and 5 % is for open spaces.

Ku-ring-gai Council Ku-ring-gai LGA covers approximately 85 sq km in size and centrally located in the North District Region, 16 km north of the centre of Sydney CBD. Ku-ring-gai LGA is adjacent to the four local government areas of Willoughby, Ryde, Northern Beaches, and Hornsby. Ku-ring-gai LGA’s suburban areas, comprising some 154,000 residents, are predominantly residential with local centres located along the main north-south rail and road transport corridor. Ku-ring-gai LGA makes an important contribution to the Northern Sydney region and broader metropolitan Sydney through a nationally significant ecological environment, State significant heritage, highly skilled workforce and significant employment sectors including education, specialist medical and health care and professional services.

The Northern Beaches LGA covers approximately 254 sq km and is located along the Northern Beaches area of Sydney. Northern Beaches Council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater, and Warringah councils. Stretching from Palm Beach to Manly, the Northern Beaches boasts more than half of all the beaches in Sydney and a population of more than 268,000. According to the Council’s positioning statement, “Living on the Northern Beaches can mean checking surf conditions from the office and taking children to the beach after school. It’s about busy sporting fields, bush walking and bike trails on the weekend. It’s an active lifestyle with clean waterways, beautiful wildlife and vibrant events backed by great services and infrastructure”. The Council is “committed to partnering with the community to protect, improve, and create its future.”

OTHER LAND MANAGERS

Other land managers include the NSW Department of Crown Lands which manages crown land (including its parks, reserves, roads, assets, infrastructure, and cemeteries) in the public interest and plays a central role by helping to create and support prosperous and resilient communities. The Department is committed to ensuring community life and wellbeing through providing public open space and green space, particularly in built-up metropolitan areas. In metropolitan centres, the revitalisation of urban areas and improvement as well as expansion of accessible, green, and open, public space is considered highly important. Through its mineral resource management role, the Geological Survey of NSW (part of NSW Resources) is an agency of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and has an ongoing interest in monitoring and supporting geotourism activities as being undertaken in the KGR.

COMMUNITY AND INTEREST GROUPS

Local community conservation groups have been involved in the support and progress of the GeoRegion including FOKE (Friends of the Ku-ring-gai Environment), STEP (South Turramurra Environment Protection), Friends of the Berowra Valley, Pittwater Natural Heritage Association and Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment. Including the support of local conservation, bush regeneration groups, environmental interest associations and scouting groups is essential as they will also be the beneficiaries of the development of the GeoRegion.

Professional associations that have provided support include the Australian Geoscience Council Inc, Geological Society of Australia, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, Sydney Minerals Exploration Discussion Group, the Linnean Society of NSW.

FIRST NATION PEOPLES

We are committed to learning how to engage and connect with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a respectful, caring and healing manner, and to work together to identify, conserve and present Aboriginal heritage and connection with Country values to the benefit of Aboriginal people. In doing so, we have reached out to various Aboriginal groups and individuals, but remain open to other and all First Nation people who have an interest in the Ku-ring-gai GeoRegion to contact us, or our individual members, to discuss this initiative further.

DESTINATION NSW

Destination NSW, an agency of the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport NSW is offered the downstream potential of adding to its destination attraction listing a potential UNESCO Global Geopark to complement the Blue Mountains World Heritage site and Australia’s first National Park, the National heritage listed Royal National Park – together these three outstanding landscapes showcase for the world, Sydney’s unique natural and cultural heritage.