Finniss 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

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

about south 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 west of Ashbourne. It is located within the gazetted locality of

Mount Magnificent M, or m, is the 13th letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''. History The let ...

. The conservation park consists of the following land in the cadastral unit of the

Hundred of Kondoparinga The Hundred of Kondoparinga is a cadastral unit of hundred in South Australia. It was proclaimed on 29 October 1846 and covers an area of . The following layers were selected: Suburbs and Localities, Counties, Hundreds It is one of the eleven hun ...

- "Allotment 22 of DP 63695" and sections 107, 108 and 1963. It came into existence on 29 January 1976 by proclamation 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 ...

'' in respect to section 1963. Land in sections 107 and 108 was added on 28 November 1985 and land in Allotment 22 was added on 23 June 2005. As of 2018, it covered an area of . The

Heysen Trail The Heysen Trail is a long distance walking trail in South Australia. It runs from Parachilna Gorge, in the Flinders Ranges via the Adelaide Hills to Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula and is approximately in length. Route summary From no ...

, the long distance walking trail, passes along the west side of the conservation park from Ridge Road in the south to Mount Magnificent Road in the north. In 1980, the conservation park was described as follows:

A small park preserving a natural remnant of the open forest and scrub associations representative of the region, including one of the best preserved areas of ''
Eucalyptus cosmophylla ''Eucalyptus cosmophylla'', commonly known as cup gum, bog gum or scrub gum, is a species of small tree or mallee that is endemic to South Australia. It usually has smooth bark and lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of th ...
'' scrub in the South Mount Lofty Ranges. The park includes crest, slope and valley floor associations and affords good views of the coast... A high rocky plateau and south trending ridges with steep intervening valleys, including a short stretch of the Finniss River. The western end of the Park consists of '' E. leucoxylon''/'' E. fasciculosa'' woodland over regenerating pasture. The eastern end includes the plateau and is vegetated by very dense, spectacular scrub of ''E. cosmophylla'', ''
Hakea prostrata ''Hakea prostrata'', commonly known as harsh hakea, is a species of shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low-lying shrub with prickly leaves and groups of white or cream-coloured flowers in late winter and early ...
'', ''Hulcina'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Leptospermum juniperinum ''Leptospermum juniperinum'', commonly known as the prickly tea tree, is a species of broom-like shrub that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has narrow, sharply pointed leaves, white flowers usually arranged singly on short side shoots and sma ...
'' and '' Tetratheca pilosa''... The western end has been semi-cleared and grazed, however the ''E. Cosmophyla'' scrub is essentially undisturbed. This scrub area is contiguous with scrub to the east and north-east of the park.

The conservation park is classified as an

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. In 1980, it was listed on the now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

References

External links

Finniss Conservation Park webpage on the Protected Planet websiteFinniss Conservation Park webpage on the BirdSA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finniss Conservation Park Conservation parks of South Australia Protected areas established in 1976 1976 establishments in Australia South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

See also

References

External links