Fitzgerald River National Park is located in the Shires of Ravensthorpe and Jerramungup in Western Australia, 419 kilometres (260 miles) southeast of Perth. The park is listed on Australia's National Heritage List because it has a wide variety of native plant species. Within the park’s area of 329,882 hectares (815,160 acres), 75 plant species are found nowhere else in the world, and 250 more are rarely seen in other places. Even though the park covers only 0.2 percent of Western Australia’s land, it is home to about 20 percent of the state’s known plant species.

There is also a place with the same name that spans the Shires of Jerramungup and Ravensthorpe. However, the borders of the national park and this place are not the same.

Description

The park includes the Barren Range (East, Middle, and West Mount Barren), the Eyre Range, the Culham Inlet, the Fitzgerald River, the Hamersley River, and the Hamersley Inlet. It also includes the Fitzgerald Biosphere. The land now part of the Fitzgerald River National Park was traditionally the home of the Goreng, Mineng, and Wudjari (Noongar) people.

In 2008, the park had nearly 40,000 visitors. The federal government provided $20 million in funding, and the state government added another $20 million. This money was used to repair and pave 80 km (50 mi) of roads, build a walking trail from Bremer Bay to Hopetoun, and improve existing recreational areas.

Point Ann is one of two places along Australia’s coast where southern right whales come to give birth during their winter migration. The other location is Head of the Bight. Inside the park is the Quaalup Homestead Wilderness Retreat, now a hotel. It was built in 1858 by the Wellstead family. In 1890, the Hassell family took over the property. The park can be reached from the west through Bremer Bay or from the east through Hopetoun. The central area of the park is only accessible by four-wheel-drive vehicle or on foot. Many peaks in the park are closed to climbers to stop the spread of a plant disease called dieback or root rot caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi.

The northwest area of the park is called Twertup, a name used for several plants and natural features. The Twertup Field Studies Centre was previously located in a house called Twertup Cottage until a building made of spongolite was destroyed by fire. The name Twertup is also used for Twertup Creek, a road, and several plant species, including the Twertup mallee (Eucalyptus arborella), Twertup feather-flower (Verticordia crebra), and Leucopogon sp. Twertup, which refers to an unknown plant species discovered by K.R. Newbey in the area. The 19th-century author Ethel Hassell, who lived nearby at Jerramungup station, wrote a chapter with this title. She warned that a young woman should avoid staying in the area, though the danger was unclear. Later, her Nyungar friend, Gimbuck, explained that she should sleep with two fires and stay away from water because of the reputation of groups of wild dogs (dingos) in the area. This practical advice was also tied to an old story about the animals.

In February 2023, a Coulson Aviation Boeing 737-300 crashed while fighting fires in the national park. Both pilots survived the crash.

Flora and fauna

The park is the foundation of a Biosphere Reserve recognized worldwide by the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. The park's list of plant species includes 1,748 types of plants, with 250 of these being rare and 75 found only within the park. Some interesting plants include the royal hakea, Qualup bell, scarlet banksia, showy banksia, bell-fruit mallee, pea flowers, featherflowers, many types of eucalypts, and bottlebrushes (Callistemon and Beaufortia).

There are three groups of crowned mallee in the park, totaling 140 trees. An endangered plant, Boronia clavata, has five groups with only 100 individuals, all located in the area. Two other endangered plants, the barrens wedding bush and the fan-leaf grevillea, are also found in the park, though the barrens wedding bush is not found only there.

The park is home to 22 types of mammals, 200 bird species, 41 reptile species, and 12 frog species. It is recognized as an Important Bird Area, with some rare birds including the western bristlebird, western ground parrot, and western whipbird. The endangered malleefowl lives in the park, with seven sightings recorded in 1998. Some mammals found in the park include the very rare dibbler and heath rat, both once thought to be extinct. The tammar wallaby and woylie, which are threatened species, live in the mallee and heath areas. Other animals in the area include the quenda, chuditch, and red-tailed phascogale.

Migratory birds use the wetland and coastal areas as a refuge. Some birds that temporarily visit the area include the white-bellied sea eagle, Pacific swift, and Caspian tern.

• Barren Mountain Range
• Looking south towards the coast
• Quaalup Homestead