Mac Clark (Acacia peuce) Conservation Reserve is a protected area in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

located in the locality of Ghan. It is located approximately south of

Ltyentye Apurte Community The Ltyentye Apurte Community, also known as Santa Teresa, is an Arrernte indigenous community in the Northern Territory, Australia, located about south-east of Alice Springs. History The mission run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at ...

and south east of Alice Springs. The reserve is surrounded by the pastoral lease and operating cattle station,

Andado Andado Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Alice Springs region of the Northern Territory. The traditional lands of the Arrernte people before European settlement, the first pastoral lease was granted in ...

, the area also lies on the western edge of the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Australian desert, with an area of . The desert is underlain by the ...

. The area is fenced to protect it from stock. It can be accessed via the old Andado track or the Binns track via

or from

Kulgera Kulgera is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is south of Alice Springs and north of the border with South Australia, making it the southernmost permanent settlement in the Northern Territory. It sits on the junction of the ...

via the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and southern extremities are segments of Aus ...

. Occupying an area of the landscape in a flat, stony windswept plain in one of the hottest places in Australia. with temperatures often exceeding in summer and an annual rainfall of about . The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...

of the area are the Arrente peoples who lived and travelled through the area for thousands of years. The area is rich in Aboriginal artefacts and the name of the pastoral lease is derived from the Arrente word meaning ''stone tool''. Europeans arrived in the area in the 1880s and settled the lands for

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as " livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The a ...

, raising both sheep and more recently cattle. Malcolm ''Mac'' Clark and his wife Molly arrived at Andado Station in 1955, Mac Died of a heart attack in 1978. The reserve bears his name as a result of his interest in conserving the trees found there. The reserve was established to preserve the rare Acacia peuce tree, also known as Waddywood, of which there is a stand of 1,000 mature trees found within the reserve. During the 1900s most of these trees had been cut down to make shelters and stockyards until there were only three populations left: One at Andado, another near to

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people. It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point acro ...

and the last near Boulia. In an area where only a few shrubs and grasses are able to survive Acacia peuce thrives and is able to grow to a height of and can live for up to 500 years. Prolonged drought, fire, rabbits and livestock are all a threat to any seedlings. Studies are being conducted in the area on regeneration rate and growth rate of the trees. In 1991, The conservation reserve was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate in 1991 and was added to the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the ''Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained b ...

on 14 September 1994.

References

{{Protected areas of the Northern Territory, state=collapsed Conservation reserves in the Northern Territory 1982 establishments in Australia Protected areas established in 1982 Northern Territory places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Northern Territory Heritage Register

See also

References