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Muogamarra Nature Reserve

by
Niall Clugston
2008
CC BY-SA 2.0
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Muogamarra Sanctuary

Muogamarra Sanctuary, in the shire of Hornsby, consists of a plateau of Hawkesbury sandstone, riven by numerous gullies. It slopes westward towards Berowra Creek and northward towards the Hawkesbury, forming a broad peninsula at the junction of those two waterways.

Muogamarra is an Aboriginal word from the Awabagal people of the Lake Macquarie area, meaning ‘to preserve for the future’ and it was used in the absence of a recorded local word. In 1934, John Duncan (JD) Tipper, an early environmentalist, took up a leasehold of 600 acres (243 hectares) of crown land, which was opened as a sanctuary with limited public access the following year. He continued to add to this leasehold until in 1953 the sanctuary included some 2,050 acres (829.6 hectares). At this point, the State Government assumed control over Muogamarra and a Trust was established to administer it, with Tipper appointed as the first President.

In 1961, the sanctuary was further extended, covering almost 2,770 acres (1121 hectares). [1]

Notes

[1] The Muogamarra Sanctuary Trust, The 'Muogamarra' Sanctuary, 1967, pp 1–3, 7–9

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