A core area of the Reserve was dedicated in 1996 with additional lands to the north and south dedicated in 1997. The Reserve includes the beach to the mean low water mark. The Reserve was dedicated as part of the Government’s New Parks initiative.
The Reserve is part of a regional network of parks and reserves created to conserve natural processes and ecosystems in north-eastern New South Wales. In this role the Reserve protects the following features:
- a large tract of natural lowland coastal vegetation, a significant remnant in an otherwise highly modified environment;
- an extensive wetland containing Melaleuca swamp forest;
- a diversity of habitat which supports a wide range of fauna and flora including rare, threatened, significant and migratory species;
- Aboriginal sites and landscapes of significance; and
- features of scientific interest.