Seven native frog species inhabit Sydney Olympic Park, including the endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog.
The Green and Golden Bell Frog population at Sydney Olympic Park is one of the largest populations of this endangered species remaining in New South Wales. The population was discovered on site in 1993 in the midst of extensive development occurring for the 2000 Olympic Games, and became the focus of a far-reaching conservation program that has significantly influenced the design and development of the Park and continues to strongly affect its management. This program has resulted in conservation of the original population in the Brickpit, and establishment of two new self-sustaining sub-populations on newly-built habitats on remediated lands at Narawang Wetland and at Kronos Hill / Wentworth Common.
The Green and Golden Bell Frog population is centred in the Brickpit, Narawang Wetland, Kronos Hill and Wentworth Common precincts, but also extends into other parts of the Park and the Silverwater Correctional Centre. The closest neighbouring population is at Clyde/Rosehill.
Frogs are amphibians and live in both ponds and the grassy and rocky areas around them. The Green and Golden Bell Frog will occupy ponds, bare ground, turf, long grass, weeds, deep mud cracks, reeds, rubble piles, rocks and logs at some stage in their life cycle.
Green and Golden Bell Frogs are most active during the warmer months; their activity season is commonly September to May, and the peak breeding season is November to March. Diurnal basking in sunshine is a critical part of their daily cycle – during which time they feed and thermoregulate.
Green and Golden Bell Frogs are most active at night and may move into piles of weeds or materials, uncapped irrigation pipes, piles of rocks, machinery and vehicles, under pieces of wood, plastic bags or litter. During the cooler months, they are much less active and are likely to be found sheltering in dense vegetation and under rocks and other objects.
To find out more about this species, visit the Australian frog database
The Green and Golden Bell Frog is listed as an endangered species under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act), and as a vulnerable species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). An endangered species is one that is likely to become extinct in nature if threats continue, or its numbers are reduced to a critical level, or its habitat is reduced.
The known range of the species has declined and become fragmented over the past 30 years, with many local populations having either gone extinct or being at risk of extinction. Sydney Olympic Park has one of the largest known remaining populations in NSW; it has been classified by the NSW Green and Golden Bell Frog Recovery Team as a ‘key population’, important for the recovery of the species, and is currently considered to be secure at an individual site level according to the draft Recovery Plan developed for the species by the Department of Environment and Climate Change.
Redevelopment of Sydney Olympic Park in the 1990s was regulated by two Licences issued under the National Parks & Wildlife Act 1974. Licence conditions were directed at ensuring long-term conservation of the frog population as a whole, and at protecting individual frogs. Key requirements were the ‘quarantining’ of the Brickpit from development impacts, creation of new frog habitats on lands outside the Brickpit, relocation of frogs from development sites, development of a frog management plan, and a monitoring and reporting regime.
These works resulted in:
These efforts were recognised with winning Australia’s major environmental award, the Gold Banksia Award, in 2000. Frog conservation works also received widespread international media attention in the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics, and the species has become a well-known flagship for the conservation of frogs and biodiversity generally.
Development consent conditions for subsequent developments have also included construction of frog habitats to ameliorate against development impacts. These included:
Ongoing management activities in frog habitats include vegetation management, pond hydrology management, gambusia control, management of parklands development works (approved under existing development consents) and management of visitation activities. Management protocols apply to these activities, and they are regulated under a licence issued under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.
For management purposes, Sydney Olympic Park has been categorised and mapped as primary, supplementary and non-habitat areas for the Green and Golden Bell Frog; different management regimes apply to each category.
Primary frog habitats are locations where Green and Golden Bell Frog breeding indicators (calling males, tadpoles, and metamorphs/juvenile frogs) have been recorded for three or more years, as well as locations where habitat has been specifically constructed for the frog (where the frog, or breeding indicators, may have not yet been recorded). Primary habitats include the Brickpit, Narawang Wetland, Kronos Hill, Wentworth Common, Wharf Pond, Wilson Park wetland, the Haslams Reach leachate ponds, and constructed ponds and corridors at Blaxland Common.
Supplementary frog habitats vary in their significance as Green and Golden Bell Frog habitats by location, season and year, and at times may be highly significant to the viability of population. They include freshwater wetlands, swales and grasslands at Haslams Creek Flats, Woo-la-ra, Newington Armory, Bicentennial Park, Badu Mangroves, Newington Nature Reserve wetland, Boundary Creek and Southern Water Quality Control Pond. They include some isolated areas such as the plant nursery area outside the Brickpit frog fence that may currently harbour small numbers of frogs, but following assessment and frog clearance, can be developed and managed as a non-habitat area.
Non-habitat areas are typically isolated from the primary Green and Golden Bell Frog habitats and do not contain significant habitat elements for the frog. They include much of the Town Centre, and areas such as Parklands Junction, the Bicentennial Park lawns, and the Wilson Park playing fields.
Use of habitats by the Green and Golden Bell Frog is dynamic; it will colonise suitable habitat of any classification; management of supplementary and non-habitat areas needs to anticipate and respond to this scenario.
See Environment Reports for more information about frog habitat management at Sydney Olympic Park.
Download Protecting and Restoring Green and Golden Bell Frog Habitat (727kb PDF)
Download Best Practice Guidelines Green and Golden Bell Frog Habitat (1.671kb PDF)
Other frog species of Sydney Olympic Park |
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The Striped Marsh Frog is regularly found in most ponds across Sydney Olympic Park. They are frequently recorded at ponds where Green and Golden Bell Frog numbers are low (and vice versa). To find out more about this species, visit the Australian frog database |
This species is widespread across Sydney Olympic Park and has been recorded at every pond in the Park, although they prefer shallow ephemeral ponds to large semi-permanent ponds.
To find out more about this species, visit the Australian frog database
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Peron's Tree Frogs are most often found in large semi-permanent ponds with deep macrophyte beds and areas of open water, such as the Northern Water Feature. They occur in most ponds inhabited by Green and Golden Bell Frogs. To find out more about this species, visit the Australian frog database |
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These have a wide but patchy distribution, and are only regularly recorded in ponds on the Mezzanine level of the Brickpit, and in some ponds on Kronos Hill. They are typically found in shallow ponds with dense grassy vegetation on the banks. To find out more about this species, visit the Australian frog database |
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This species occurs within the woodland of Newington Nature Reserve, adjacent to Narawang Wetland. To find out more about this species, visit the Australian frog database |
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The Dwarf Tree Frog were first recorded at the Park in 2000, and are found within Narawang Wetland and the Northern Water Feature. This species appears to be gradually spreading across the park. To find out more about this species, visit the Australian frog database |
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