Camden White Gum- Endangered

Camden White Gums - Endangered

cc Camden White Gum (Wikimedia) 



One of Camden's little known hidden gems is a tree commonly known as the Camden White Gum. This gum tree is named after our local area. It is found along the Nepean River floodplain in the Camden area, as well Bents Basin and the Kedumba Valley in the Blue Mountains. It grows in numbers in these restricted locations but not elsewhere.

Endangered

The species of tree is declared as vulnerable under the Commonwealth Governments endangered species and the NSW threatened species.

History

The flooding of the Burragorang Valley by Warragamba Dam in the 1950s destroyed many trees of the species.

Characteristics

Some individual trees live for over 150 years. Germination of new trees is triggered by floods on the Nepean River which leave a suitable silt deposit for germination of new seedlings.

Threats

These include tree clearing for farming and urban development, increased nutrients in the Nepean River from sewage and runoff, intense bushfires which kill existing trees and weed competition.  

Recovery

In 2020 as part of the New South Wales government's Greening Our City program

The Connecting Camden White Gum project has secured $41,500 to plant 500 genetically diverse Camden White Gum within the Nepean River corridor at Elizabeth Macarthur Reserve and is part of the wider program to plant more than 40,000 trees across Greater Sydney.  (Camden Narellan Advertiser 16 December 2020)

Read more

National Arboretum in Canberra Click here
NSW National Parks Click here

Originally posted 21 April 2016. Updated 17 December 2020.