Национальный парк Косцюшко: Альпийская Австралия

The Kosciuszko National Park (,/k//ɒ//z//i/'/ʌ//s//k//oʊ/) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix of rugged mountains and wilderness, characterised by an alpine climate, which makes it popular with recreational skiers and bushwalkers. The park is located in the southeastern corner of New South Wales, southwest of Sydney, and is contiguous with the Alpine National Park in Victoria to the south, and the Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory to the northeast. The larger towns of Cooma, Tumut and Jindabyne lie just outside and service the park. The waters of the Snowy River, the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee River, and the Gungarlin River all rise in this park. Other notable peaks in the park include Gungartan, Mount Jagungal, Bimberi Peak and Mount Townsend. On 7 November 2008, the park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.

Multiple Aboriginal groups in the southern part of NSW gathered in the Australian Alps Bioregion in the summer on an annual pilgrimage to the Bogong and Snowy Mountains. Here, the men participated in a feast of bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) that were found on the rocky outcrops of the mountains. The area was explored by Europeans in 1835, and in 1840, Edmund Strzelecki ascended Mount Kosciuszko and renamed it for Polish patriot and military leader Tadeusz Kościuszko. High country stockmen followed, using the Snowy Mountains for grazing during the summer months. Banjo Paterson's poem The Man From Snowy River recalls this era. The cattle graziers have left a legacy of mountain huts scattered across the area. Today these huts are maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service or volunteer organisations like the Kosciuszko Huts Association. In the 19th century, gold was mined on the high plains near Kiandra. In the 20th century, the focus of Skiing in New South Wales shifted south closer to the Kosciuszko Main Range. The Kosciuszko National Park came into existence as the National Chase Snowy Mountains on 5 December 1906. In April 1944, following the passage of the Kosciusko State Park Act, the Kosciusko State Park was proclaimed. It then became the Kosciuszko National Park in 1967. The name was misspelt as Kosciusko until 1997. The construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme between 1949 and 1974 saw much of the area explored, brought improvements to roads and resulted in the construction of several dams and tunnels across the park in one of the world's largest engineering achievements.

The higher regions of the park experience an alpine climate which is unusual on mainland Australia. However, only the peaks of the main range are subject to consistent heavy winter snow. The climate station at Charlotte Pass recorded
Australia's lowest temperature of on 28 June 1994.

During the last ice age, which peaked about 20,000 years ago in the Pleistocene epoch, the highest peaks of the main range near Mount Kosciuszko experienced a climate which favoured the formation of glaciers, evidence of which can still be seen today. Cirques moraines, tarn lakes, roche moutonnées and other glacial features can all be seen in the area. Lake Cootapatamba, which was formed by an ice spilling from Mount Kosciuszko's southern flank, is the highest lake on the Australian mainland. Lake Albina, Club Lake, Blue Lake, and Hedley Tarn also have glacial origins. There is some disagreement as to exactly how widespread Pleistocene glaciation was on the main range, and little or no evidence from earlier glacial periods exists. The 'David Moraine', a one kilometre long ridge running across Spencers Creek valley seems to indicate a larger glacier existed in this area at some time, however the glacial origin of this feature is disputed. There is evidence of periglacial activity in the area. Solifluction appears to have created terraces on the northwest flank of Mount Northcote. Frost heave is also a significant agent of soil erosion in the Kosciuszko Area.

The Kosciuszko National Park covers a variety of climatic regions which support several distinct ecosystems. That which is most closely identified with the park, the alpine area above the tree line, is one of the most fragile and covers the smallest area. This area is a patchwork of alpine heaths, herbfields, feldmarks, bogs and fens. The windswept feldmark ecotope is endemic to the alpine region, and covers a mere It is most vulnerable to the wandering footsteps of unmindful tourists. Nine separate wilderness zones have been identified in the latest management scheme. These include the Indi, Byadbo, Pilot, Jagungal, Bogong Peaks, Goobarragandra, Western Falls, Bramina and Bimberi wilderness areas.

Many rare or threatened plant and animal species occur within the boundaries of the park. The park is home to one of Australia's most threatened species: the corroboree frog. The endangered mountain pygmy possum and the more common dusky antechinus are located in the high country of the park. There are also significant populations of feral animals in the park, including brumbies or wild horses. Park authorities have coordinated their culling and relocation, leading to public controversy over how to reduce their numbers. The actual number of horses within the park is also difficult to ascertain with estimates ranging from 1,700 in 2008 increasing by 300 each year, 7,679 in 2009, and from 2,500 to 14,000 in 2013–2014. In 2016 the population was estimated to be 6,000. By 2019, this number was found to have more than doubled to 25,000. A 2020 survey placed the number at 14,380. In June 2021, Federal environment minister Sussan Ley wrote to the NSW environment minister Matt Kean saying she planned to introduce regulation under federal environmental laws to protect the park, because the state was failing in its obligation to do so. A management plan for the wild horses was released on 24 November 2021. Canoeing and swimming in the rivers and lakes are popular in the warmer weather. The Snowy Scheme, constructed between 1949 and 1974, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex consisting of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts. The chief engineer was Sir William Hudson. It is the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia. An 8 km powerline is planned through the area.