Francois Peron National Park
| Francois Peron National Park | |
|---|---|
 A 4 wheel drive track in Francois Peron National Park | |
  | |
| Location | Mid West region of Western Australia |
| Nearest city | Geraldton, Western Australia |
| Area | 52,587 ha (129,950 acres)[1] |
| Established | 1993 |
| Governing body | Department of Environment and Conservation |
| www | |
Francois Peron National Park is a national park on the Peron Peninsula in Western Australia (Australia), 726 km north of Perth, and located within the boundary of the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The nearest towns to the park are Denham, which is found on the southern edge of the park and Carnarvon which is found about 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the north.
Names and earlier uses
Indigenous Australians were the initial inhabitants of the area and have been living there for over 26,000 years. The local peoples who speak the Malgana language call the area Wulyibidi.[2]
It is named after the French naturalist and explorer François Péron who was the zoologist aboard Nicholas Baudin's 1801 and 1803 scientific expeditions to Western Australia, and is situated within the bounds of the earlier pastoral lease of the Peron Station.
Locations from the French exploration era include:
- Guichenault (east coast of the Peron Peninsula)
- Cape Lesueur (west coast of the Peron Peninsula)
- Lake Montbazin
A pearling camp was established on the peninsula at Herald Bight in the 1880s and the remains of the shells can still be found along the beach.
Used as a sheep station from the early 1900s onwards the station was sold to the state government in 1990.
It was gazetted on 8 January 1993 as a National Park - through the purchase of Peron Station (Pastoral Lease 3114/761) in 1990 [3]
Location
It is adjacent to and surrounded by the Shark Bay Marine Park to the west, north and east, and by the Denham to Monkey Mia road to the south.
Facilities
Picnic, boat launching and camping areas along the west coast of the Peninsula include:-
- Big Lagoon
- Cape Lesueur
- Cattle Well
- South Gregories
- Gregories
- Bottle Bay
Further reading
- Edward Duyker François Péron: An Impetuous Life: Naturalist and Voyager, Miegunyah/MUP, Melb., 2006, pp. 349, ISBN 978 0522 85260 8 [winner Frank Broeze Maritime History Prize, 2007].
See also
References
- ^ "Department of Environment and Conservation 2009–2010 Annual Report". Department of Environment and Conservation. 2010: 48. ISSN 1835-114X.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Francois Peron National Park Brochure". 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
- ^ Map 4, and page 7 of Hancock, Sue, Brown, Paul and Stephens, Burke (2000) Shark Bay Terrestrial Reserves Management Plan 2000- 2009 Perth, Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Land Management for the National Parks and Nature Conservation Authority ISBN 0-7307-5510-X
External links
