__NOTOC__ Aberdour Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

located in the state's south-east in the locality of Willalooka about south-east of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and about south of the town of

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

. The conservation park consists of land in sections 7 and 80 in the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Willalooka. The Cannawigara Road which extends from Bordertown in the east to the

Riddoch Highway Riddoch Highway is a rural highway in south-eastern South Australia, designated as route A66 between Keith and Mount Gambier, with the remainder between Mount Gambier and Port MacDonnell designated as route B66. It is named after John Riddoch, t ...

in the west in Willalooka passes between sections 7 and 80 while Nankivell Road adjoins the eastern boundary with section 7. A fire access track is located inside the fence line on the western and northern boundaries while a disused quarry is located on the eastern boundary. It was proclaimed under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 sepa ...

'' on 28 February 1991 in respect to section 7 which was gifted to the state government by the Nankivell family. Land in section 80 which was formerly a stone reserve under the control of the District Council of Tatiara was added by proclamation to the conservation park on 16 February 2006. The name is derived from Aberdour Homestead which is located to the west of the conservation park on the east side of the

in the locality of Willalooka. As of 2016, it covered an area of . In 1997, the conservation park was described as follows:

The park preserves an area of remnant vegetation typical of undulating dune and limestone country. Due to the extensive clearance in the surrounding area, the park provides an important habitat and stepping stone for many fauna species, particularly birds.

The conservation park supports the following three vegetation associations: #An open scrub of ''

Eucalyptus diversifolia ''Eucalyptus diversifolia'', commonly known as the soap mallee, coastal white mallee, South Australian coastal mallee, or coast gum is a species of mallee that is endemic to an area along the southern coast of Australia. It has smooth bark, lanc ...

'' and Eucalyptus leptophylla located on a “rocky calcrete’’ ridge passing through the conservation park in a north-south direction and including other dominant species such as broombush (''

Melaleuca uncinata ''Melaleuca uncinata'', commonly known as broombush, broom honeymyrtle or brushwood, is a plant in the Melaleuca, paperbark family (biology), family native to southern Australia. It is harvested from the wild, and grown in plantations, for broom ...

''), slaty sheoak (''

Allocasuarina muelleriana ''Allocasuarina muelleriana'', commonly known as the slaty sheoak, is a small tree of the genus ''Allocasuarina'' native to South Australia and Victoria. The fast growing dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a spec ...

''), and silver broombush ('' Baeckea behrii''). #An open scrub of ''

Eucalyptus incrassata ''Eucalyptus incrassata'', commonly known as the lerp mallee, yellow mallee, ridge fruited mallee or rib fruited mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to southern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough, ribbony bark near ...

'' located on a “small strip” of sandy soil on the conservation park's northern boundary including other dominant species such as broombush, slaty sheoak and silver broombush, but distinguished from the previous association by “the presence of the canopy species ''E. incrassate'' and the scattering throughout the community of the dryland tea-tree (''

Melaleuca lanceolata ''Melaleuca lanceolata'' commonly known as black paperbark, moonah, Rottnest Island teatree and western black tea tree is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to Australia where it occurs in Western Australia, South Australia, ...

'').” #A woodland of ''

Eucalyptus fasciculosa ''Eucalyptus fasciculosa'', commonly known as pink gum, hill gum or scrub gum, is a species of small tree that is endemic to southern Australia. It has mostly smooth, light grey to pinkish bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in grou ...

'' located along the eastern boundary. Land within the conservation park's boundaries is known to be a site for Jumping-Jack Wattle (''

Acacia enterocarpa ''Acacia enterocarpa'', commonly known as jumping jack wattle, is a shrub species that is endemic to eastern Australia. Description The shrub has a dense spreading habit and typically grows to a height of less than . It has ribbed, red to brown ...

''), a species of plant which is listed as ''endangered'' both by the ''National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972'' and the Commonwealth ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

''. As of 1997, visitation consisted mainly of “local school groups” undertaking “environmental education.” The conservation park is classified as an IUCN Category III protected area.

References

External links

Aberdour Conservation Park webpage on the Protected Planet websiteAberdour Conservation Park webpage on the BirdsSA website
{{Protected areas of South Australia, state=collapsed Conservation parks of South Australia Protected areas established in 1991 1991 establishments in Australia Limestone Coast

See also

References

External links