Waitpinga Conservation Park (formerly the Waitpinga National Parks Reserve) 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 about south of the town of the Yankalilla in the gazetted locality of Parawa. On 9 November 1967, it was proclaimed under the ''National Parks Act 1966'' as the ''Waitpinga National Parks Reserve'' in respect to an area of land already under statutory protection. The conservation park 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 27 April 1972. As of 2011, it was described as being "dedicated to the conservation of the rare Coral Fern." The conservation park contains a "low open forest of stringbark and

Pink Gum ''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 ...

, over an

understorey In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

of bracken, tea-tree, sedges and grasses." Notable fauna includes the

Chestnut-rumped heathwren The chestnut-rumped heathwren (''Hylacola pyrrhopygia'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to temperate and subtropical forests and heathlands of Australia. Taxonomy The chestnut-rumped heathwren was first described ...

, which is a nationally-listed endangered species. The conservation park is within the extent of "Illawong Swamp" which is listed as a wetland of national importance and immediately adjoins a

forestry plantation A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...

operated by ForestrySA as part of its Second Valley Forest operation. 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.

References

External links

Waitpinga Conservation Park web page on protected planet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waitpinga Conservation Park Conservation parks of South Australia Protected areas established in 1960 1960 establishments in Australia