Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park is a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
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 suburb of
Aldinga Beach
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Aldinga Beach is an outer southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It lies within the City of Onkaparinga and has the postcode 5173. At the , Aldinga Beach had a population of 10,557. It lies about a kilometre west of the smaller ...
about south by west 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 ...
.
History
Before
British colonisation of South Australia
British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...
, the
Kaurna people
The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurn ...
occupied the land from the
Adelaide plains
The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ade ...
and southwards down western side of the
Fleurieu Peninsula. There was a camp at Aldinga known as Camp Coortandillah, and Kaurna people were present living in the Aldinga Scrub until the 1870s, when Bishop
Augustus Short sent the remaining people to the mission at
Poonindie
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Poonindie is a small township near Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The land upon which it sits was originally the land of the Barngarla people.
Poonindie Mission was established as a mission for Aboriginal people ...
, thus ending their occupation of the area. After they were removed, some Aboriginal people from the
Goolwa area (
Ngarrindjeri
The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term ''Ngarrindjeri'' means "belo ...
people) occupied the area. The
Kaurna language name of Aldinga was Ngaltingga.
The first European settler, Mr. F. Culley, arrived on the
scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...
in 1857. Much effort was made to farm on the land before the World War I, but they all proved futile. The
District Council of Willunga feared that the area may cause erosion and thus were purchased to be supervised by the State Planning Authority as an open space reserve.
The conservation park was proclaimed for the purpose of protecting a parcel of undeveloped land considered to be "a significant remnant of the natural habitat that once occurred all along the southern Adelaide coastline".
Description
The conservation park consists of land in the cadastral unit of the
Hundred of Willunga
The Hundred of Willunga is a cadastral unit of hundred covering the extreme south suburbs of the Adelaide metropolitan area. It is one of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide. It was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe probably deri ...
consisting of section 821 and land identified as allotments 4, 14, 15 and 100. It came into existence on 7 November 1985 by proclamation under the ''
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972'' in respect to section 821. The remainder of the land holding was proclaimed on 14 March 1991.
As of 2016, it covered an area of .
[
It is positioned in the Willunga sub-basin and is characterised by a backdrop of ]sand dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
s, sand blows and small coastal vegetation. The Park consists of an extensive range of rare plants and is considered as an important region for the conservation of flora and fauna
In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; ...
. Some of the rare plants include Lacy coral lichen, nardoo
''Marsilea drummondii'' is a species of fern known by the common name nardoo. It is native to Australia, where it is widespread and common, particularly in inland regions. It is a rhizome, rhizomatous perennial aquatic plant, aquatic fern that ro ...
, hairy sedge
''Carex hirta'', the hairy sedge or hammer sedge, is a species of sedge native across Europe. It has characteristic hairy leaves and inflorescences, and is the type species of the genus '' Carex''.
Description
''Carex hirta'' grows tall, with ...
and various species of orchids. Short-beaked echidnas, lizards, bats and several birds form a part of its ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
.IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Category III protected area.[
]
See also
* List of protected areas in Adelaide
List of protected areas in Adelaide refers to protected areas proclaimed by South Australian government which are located within the Adelaide metropolitan area.
Northern Adelaide
The following protected areas are located within the South ...
References
External links
Official webpageFriends of Aldinga ScrubWebpage on the BirdsSA websiteWebpage on the Protected Planet website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park
Conservation parks of South Australia
Protected areas in Adelaide
Protected areas established in 1975