Borenore Karst Conservation Reserve Plan of Management

Borenore Karst Conservation Reserve covers some 136 hectares and is situated 17 km west of the City of Orange on the Orange-Parkes Road. The Reserve contains many representations of the distinctive landform features of karst landscapes including a karst bridge, a small arch, dolines and several caves. The Arch Cave is the main cave visited on the Reserve and, while many of the features in this cave have been damaged over the years, stalagmites and flowstones can still be found. Tunnel Cave is important as a roosting site for the vulnerable Common Bent-winged Bat.

The actual cave system is only a small portion of the reservation, the remaining area contains a natural, partially undisturbed woodland community. This woodland is not only essential to the management of the karst system and as habitat for native animals, but is significant in its own right as one of the few remaining areas of White Box and Yellow Box Woodland in the region. Evidence of past use of the area by Aboriginal people and by Europeans for grazing and marble quarrying are important cultural features.

Photo: Borenore Karst Conservation Reserve / Ian Brown