service personnel from the First and Second World Wars, as well as being of significance to past and present day members of the Defence forces. The 1998 Plan of Management allowed for the development of a war memorial, sculptures and flagpole located in the Park's picnic areas. These became the focus of events on these special days each year. In 1995 the area was re-dedicated to the memory of service personnel as part of the “Australia Remembers” celebrations. The venue is valued by the community for these memorial services; the peaceful nature of the Park adding to its commemorative roles. Vegetation communities The flora of the park is dominated by Hawkesbury sandstone vegetation and the endangered Duffy's Forest Ecological Community. Manly Dam Reserve has more than 300 native plant species recorded, including 18 different species of native orchids. Wildlife The diverse range of plant communities in the Manly Dam Reserve provide a home to a wide variety of native wildlife. The parks mammal population includes the commonly seen brushtailed possums, ringtail possums, swamp wallabies, brown antechinus, bush rats, long-nosed bandicoots and short-beaked echidnas. More secretive and less commonly seen species include a range of microbats including the threatened eastern bent-wing bat; the threatened eastern pygmy possum and grey-headed fruit bat. There are also records of koalas and spotted-tailed quolls being seen within the reserve. More than 80 species of birds have been recorded from the Park, including a variety of waterbirds and migratory species. The Park also provides an important refuge for many species such as wrens and thornbills which are becoming increasingly rare in urban bushland areas. Large predatory birds such as Powerful Owls are also regularly sighted in the reserve. Reptiles are commonly encountered by visitors to the park with Eastern Water Dragons, Water Skinks and Lace Monitors and a variety of smaller skinks and geckos often seen near picnic areas and along walking tracks. The much rarer Rosenbergs or Heath Monitor can sometimes be seen by keen observers in more remote areas of the Park. Although Red-bellied Black Snakes and Common Brown Snakes are also often sighted along tracks, the park is home to a range of less often seen snakes such as Yellow-faced Whip snakes, Marsh Snakes, Golden-crowned Snakes, Diamond Pythons, Blind Snakes and Tiger Snakes. Eastern Long-necked Turtles also occur at the dam but are rarely seen by visitors. Ten species of frogs have been