Inclusion in the National Heritage List of Kamay Botany Bay: Botanical Collection Sites (NSW)

Administered by Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Legislation au C2017G00983 In force Gazette

Legislation content

 

 

 

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

 

INCLUSION IN THE NATIONAL HERITAGE LIST
OF

KAMAY BOTANY BAY: BOTANICAL COLLECTION SITES

 

 

 

I, Josh Frydenberg, Minister for the Environment and Energy, having considered in relation to the place and the National Heritage values described in the Schedule of this instrument:

 

(a)  the Australian Heritage Council's assessment whether the place meets any of the National Heritage criteria; and

 

(b)  the comments given to the Council under sections 324JG and 324JH of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999; and

 

being satisfied that the place described in the Schedule has the National Heritage values specified in the Schedule, pursuant to section 324JJ of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, include the place and the specified National Heritage values in the National Heritage List.

 

 

 

Dated  8 September 2017

 

 

 

Josh Frydenberg

Minister for the Environment and Energy


SCHEDULE

 

NEW SOUTH WALES

Southerland Shire, Randwick City, Rockdale Municipality

 

 

NAME:  Kamay Botany Bay: Botanical collection sites

 

BOUNDARY:
Approximately 1060ha, Kurnell and La Perouse, Botany Bay, comprising the following two areas:

1 - The whole of the Botany Bay National Park as gazetted on 23/11/1984 and including all additional gazetted areas to 22/08/2008.

 

2 - The whole of the Towra Point Nature Reserve as gazetted on 6/08/1982 and including all additional gazetted areas to 4/04/2008.

 

Criterion

Values

 (a)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(a) Botany Bay cont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place's importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia's natural or cultural history.

Plants collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1770 within Kamay Botany Bay contributed to the development of systematic biology. Their preservation in a collection formed the basis of the world's scientific understanding and knowledge of Australian flora during the eighteenth century in Europe. With Joseph Bank's advocacy, these plants were also influential in shaping the image of Australia in Europe during the eighteenth century.

  

Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus developed a revolutionary biological classification system known as the Linnaean System. This system marked the beginning of the science of international systematic biology. Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander used Linnaeus' ideas about classification in their work to collect plants for scientific study during their voyage on the ship Endeavour. Kamay Botany Bay encompasses all of the remaining sites where plant specimens were collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander during the first landing of the Endeavour on the Australian coast in 1770. At Kamay Botany Bay Banks and Solander collected specimens representing at least 132 new plant species including iconic members of the Proteaceae family (Banksia) and Myrtaceae family (Eucalyptus, Melaleuca and Leptospermum). Banks' and Solander's systematic collections and use of the Linnaean System represent the symbolic and actual integration of Australian flora into western science. The plants collected at Kamay Botany Bay in 1770 were unlike anything ever seen in the western world and were a major catalyst for the further development of systematic biology. Some of the collected plants became type-specimens that have intrinsic scientific and research value as a permanent reference point for their particular species.

  

The Botany Bay specimens were the result of the first scientific botanical collecting program undertaken in Australia and inspired in Joseph Banks a lifetime interest in Australia. This interest manifested in his advocacy of Australia as a suitable location for a British penal settlement. Joseph Banks sent out of a series of botanical collectors and botanists to Australia which culminated in the first systematic account of Australian flora by botanist (and Cook's librarian) Robert Brown. The plant specimens gathered from Kamay Botany Bay played an influential role in shaping the conceptualisation of Australia in Europe as a wild and exotic place.

  

 

The features within Kamay Botany Bay which express its botanical significance include the vegetation communities at Kurnell Peninsula, La Perouse Headland and the Towra Point Nature Reserve which contain many of the species collected by Banks and Solander in 1770. The remnant areas of vegetation within these sites are a reference point for Banks' and Solander's botanical collections, which at the time included:       

Acacia longifolia; Acacia suaveolens; Acacia terminalis subsp. terminalis; Acacia ulicifolia; Actinotus helianthi; Actinotus minor; Allocasuarina distyla; Allocasuarina littoralis; Angophora costata; Aotus ericoides; Astroloma pinifolium; Atriplex cinerea; Avicennia marina; Baeckea imbricata; Baloskion tetraphyllum subsp. meiostachyus; Banksia ericifolia; Banksia integrifolia; Banksia serrata; Bauera capitata; Bauera rubioides; Bidens pilosa; Blandfordia nobilis; Blechnum camfieldii; Blechnum indicum; Boronia parviflora; Boronia pinnata; Bossiaea heterophylla; Breynia oblongifolia; Callistemon citrinus; Calotis lappulacea; Cassytha pubescens; Comesperma ericinum; Commelina cyanea; Correa alba; Correa reflexa; Corymbia gummifera; Cryptandra amara; Cyclosorus interruptus; Dampiera stricta; Darwinia fascicularis; Desmodium rhytidophyllum; Drosera binata; Epacris longiflora; Epacris microphylla; Epaltes australis; Eriostemon buxifoliius; Eustrephus latifolius; Exocarpos cupressiformis; Geranium homeanum; Glossogyne tannensis; Glycine tabacina; Goodenia ovata; Goodenia paniculata; Grevillea mucronulata; Hakea dactyloides; Hakea gibbosa; Hakea teretifolia; Hardenbergia violacea; Hemigenia purpurea; Hibbertia scandens; Hybanthus monpetalus (filiformis); Isopogon anemonifolius; Isopogon anethifolius; Kennedia rubicunda; Lambertia formosa; Lepidium pseudohyssopifolium; Lepidosperma concavum; Leptocarpus tenax; Leptospermum arachnoides; Leptospermum juniperinum; Leptospermum laevigatum; Leptospermum polygalifolium; Leptospermum squarrosum; Leptospermum trinervium; Leucopogon ericoides; Leucopogon virgatus; Livistona australis; Lobelia dentata; Lobelia gracilis; Lomandra glauca; Lomandra longifolia; Lycopodiella lateralis; Macrozamia communis; Melaleuca armillaris; Melaleuca nodosa; Melaleuca thymifolia; Melanthera biflora (Wedelia); Mitrasacme polymorpha; Monotoca scoparia; Opercularia aspera; Oxylobium cordifolium; Pandorea pandorana; Patersonia sericea; Pelargonium australe; Persoonia lanceolata; Persoonia levis; Petrophile pulchella; Philotheca salsolifolia; Pimelea linifolia; Platysace ericoides; Platysace lanceolata; Plectranthus parviflorus; Pomax umbellata; Poranthera microphylla; Prasophyllum striatum; Pratia (Lobelia) purpurascens; Pteridium esculentum; Pterostylis revoluta; Rhagodia candolleana (incl baccata); Ricinocarpos pinifolius; Rumex brownii; Scaevola calendulacea; Scaevola ramosissima; Schoenus ericetorum; Schoenus paludosus; Senecio linearifolius; Stackhousia viminea; Stephania japonica; Stylidium graminifolium; Styphelia viridis; Symphionema paludosum; Synoum glandulosum; Syzygium paniculum; Triglochin procera; Utricularia biloba; Vernonia cinerea; Viola banksii prev hederacea; Westringia fruticosa; Woollsia pungens; Xanthosia pilosa; Xylomelum pyriforme; Zieria pilosa (pinnata). 

 

 

 

Overview

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 was enacted to address the protection of Australia's unique biodiversity and heritage sites, including the need to conserve and manage places of significant natural and cultural heritage. The Minister for the Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg, exercised his powers under the Act to include the Kamay Botany Bay Botanical Collection Sites in the National Heritage List, recognising their outstanding heritage value to the nation. This site, which includes the Botany Bay National Park and the Towra Point Nature Reserve, is significant for its role in the history of systematic biology, as the collection of plant specimens by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1770 contributed to the global understanding of Australian flora and influenced the image of Australia in Europe. The inclusion of this site in the National Heritage List aims to protect and preserve these significant natural and cultural assets for future generations. The decision to include Kamay Botany Bay in the National Heritage List was based on the Australian Heritage Council's assessment of its National Heritage values and public consultation. The area's vegetation communities, which contain many of the species collected by Banks and Solander, are considered a reference point for the historic botanical collections and hold intrinsic scientific value. This recognition under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ensures that the unique natural and cultural heritage of Kamay Botany Bay is protected and managed for its significance to Australia's natural and cultural history.

Scope and Application

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 governs the inclusion of places of national heritage significance on the National Heritage List, with specific application to the Kamay Botany Bay: Botanical Collection Sites in New South Wales. This Act applies to the entities and individuals involved in activities within the designated heritage areas, which in this instance includes the whole of the Botany Bay National Park and the Towra Point Nature Reserve. The Act ensures the preservation of these sites by recognising their outstanding heritage value to the nation, particularly their importance in the development of systematic biology and their role in the cultural history of Australia. The Act's jurisdiction is federal, overseen by the Minister for the Environment and Energy, who, in this case, is satisfied that the sites meet the National Heritage criteria based on assessments and public comments. The Act does not specify exclusions or exemptions in this context, but it does allow for the extension or restriction of application through subordinate instruments, which could include regulations or guidelines detailing the permissible activities within these heritage sites.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of this legislation, found in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, pertain to the inclusion of Kamay Botany Bay's Botanical Collection Sites in the National Heritage List. This inclusion is based on the site's outstanding heritage value to the nation due to its significance in Australia's natural and cultural history (section 324JJ). The Schedule of this instrument specifies the precise areas and values of Kamay Botany Bay, which have been assessed by the Australian Heritage Council and deemed to meet the National Heritage criteria. The obligations imposed on parties or entities governed by this Act include adherence to the regulations and guidelines set forth by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This encompasses the protection and preservation of the listed sites, ensuring that any actions taken do not detract from the National Heritage values. Furthermore, entities involved in activities within these areas must comply with relevant environmental impact assessments and any other requirements stipulated by the Act. Breaches of the Act's provisions may result in various civil or criminal consequences. The specific offences and penalties are not detailed within the provided text, but under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, penalties for non-compliance can include substantial fines and, in some cases, imprisonment. The exact penalties would depend on the nature and severity of the breach, as well as any aggravating or mitigating factors considered by the relevant authorities. The Act provides a framework for enforcement actions to ensure the protection of the listed heritage sites.

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.