Calperum Station, also known as Calperum Reserve, is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

located in the east of 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 ...

about north-west of the town of Renmark and about 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 ...

. Calperum Station consists of three separate pastoral leases - Calperum, Calperum Road and Yubalia. The property is a de-stocked pastoral (sheep) station managed by the Australian Landscape Trust. It is managed for public benefit as a site for habitat and species conservation, scientific research and public education. Most of the property is listed as "critical habitat" for a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of '' critical depen ...

of bird, the

black-eared miner The black-eared miner (''Manorina melanotis'') is an endangered honeyeater endemic to mallee woodland in south-eastern Australia. Taxonomy ''Manorina melanotis'' was identified by Francis Erasmus Wilson in 1911. It is closely related to the mu ...

, but it is not an officially-designated protected area. The reserve includes a major part of the Riverland Ramsar site, a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

of international significance, and Calperum Station is also part of a larger reserve system known as the

Riverland Biosphere Reserve The Riverland Biosphere Reserve, formerly the Bookmark Biosphere Reserve, is a area of land in eastern South Australia, adjoining the states of New South Wales and Victoria. It is one of 14 biosphere reserves in Australia and is part of the Wo ...

. It also includes a major part of the Riverland Ramsar Site. Calperum Station is part of a larger reserve system known as the

History

The Calperum

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...

is located on a site formerly known as Ral Ral. Ral Ral was named after the Aboriginal king of the area. During the early years of

European settlement 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 ...

, from around 1838 drovers used Ral Ral as a campsite and place to water their livestock (at Ral Ral Creek) as they were being driven down into South Australia. From around 1846 European men were given annual licences to occupy the area and graze their sheep and cattle, until 14 pastoral leases were issued in 1851. One of these was a property which became known as Chowilla and then Chowilla-Bookmark, before being split into two in 1896 – Chowilla and Calperum. John Holland Robertson held the Calperum lease from 1896 until he died in 1909, after which it remained in the family until 1953, and it changed hands a few times, during which time it was split among three brothers, before the lease was sold to the federal government in 1993. Calperum Station consists of three separate pastoral leases - Calperum, Calperum Road and Yubalia. These were purchased in 1993 by the

Chicago Zoological Society Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of . It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recogn ...

, using funds obtained both from the

McCormick Foundation McCormick Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit charitable trust established in 1955, following the death of "Colonel" Robert R. McCormick of the McCormick family. , it had more than US$1 billion in assets. History In 1911, McCormick became the ...

and the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

.Gilligan, 2008, page 2 The leases were subsequently transferred by deed of assignment to the

Director of National Parks Director of National Parks is a government-owned corporation of the Australian government responsible for the management of a portfolio of terrestrial and marine protected areas proclaimed under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Cons ...

to hold in

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

. Since 2003, the reserve is managed along with the Taylorville Station reserve under

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

by the Australian Landscape Trust Association Inc. (ALT).Gilligan, 2008, page 3 During the financial year 2013–14, the pastoral leases along with those for the Taylorville Station reserve were transferred to Austland Services Pty Ltd, a company owned by ALT, which "will continue to manage the properties in accordance with the trust arrangements."DNP, 2014, page 54

Description

Location, size and vegetation

The reserve is located on the north side of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

, bounded to its western side by the Taylorville Station reserve and the Gluepot Reserve. The reserve covers an area of and was described in 2008 as follows:

Some 95% of Calperum Station is covered by Mallee vegetation communities growing on the east-west red brown dunes of the Loxton-Parilla Sands. The remaining 5% is occupied by the Murray River floodplain which includes 4 wetlands: Merreti; Woolpolool; Clover; and Woolpolool Swamp, which are part of the 30,600 hectare ‘Riverland’ Ramsar site.

The Riverland Ramsar site was declared a

of international significance under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

Purpose

The purpose of the reserve is the protection of "Listed Critical Habitat" for the

bird species, in conjunction with both the Taylorville Station reserve and the Gluepot Reserve. The reserve, along with Taylorville Station, is also reported as being "important for the conservation of the nationally vulnerable

malleefowl The malleefowl (''Leipoa ocellata'') is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental ca ...

(''Leipoa ocellata''), the regionally vulnerable

bush stone-curlew The bush stone-curlew or bush thick-knee, also known as the Iben bird (''Burhinus grallarius'', obsolete name ''Burhinus magnirostris'') is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Its favoured habitat is open plains and woodlands, whe ...

(''Burhinus grallarius'') and the nationally vulnerable

southern bell frog The growling grass frog (''Ranoidea raniformis''), also commonly known as the southern bell frog, warty swamp frog and erroneously as the green frog, is a species of ground-dwelling tree frog native to southeastern Australia, ranging from sout ...

(''Litoria ramiformis'')." The reserve is one of the "key components of the Riverland (formerly Bookmark) Biosphere Reserve." Calperum Station is sometimes referred to as Calperum Reserve. In 2011, the Calperum Mallee SuperSite was established at the reserve. This is part of Australian Flux Network Project, which monitors

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 ...

s and land restoration projects, and is run by a partnership between the

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and Australian Landscape Trust.

Status

Calperum Station has not been classified as an IUCN protected area . It was reported in 2012 that the reserve is being "managed for a broader, additional set of objectives, including environmentally sustainable development such as tourism".

Management

As of 2014, the reserve and the Taylorville Station reserve were managed as one unit by Austland Services Pty Ltd. The management agreement with the Director of National Parks requires that the reserve be used as "a model for the implementation of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Action Plan." In December 2020, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office (CEWO) and the Australian Landscape Trust entered into a five-year partnership to deliver water for the environment to continue improving the health of the Calperum

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

. It is planned that of water for the environment would be delivered to the Riverland Ramsar site over the following five years, to help provide habitat for the native wildlife. There had been some water delivered previously, in particular during the 2018–2019 drought, with the assistance of the Riverland

Indigenous rangers The Indigenous ranger projects were introduced by the Australian Government in 2007 as part of its Working on Country program. Indigenous rangers are Indigenous Australians who combine traditional knowledge with conservation training in order to p ...

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licence.

Archaeological finds

Because Calperum Station lies on a floodplain, it is likely that

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

peoples have been able to access large amounts of resources in the area for a long time, but the

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

of the area had not been investigated in detail before 2014. , archaeologists from Flinders University in South Australia and

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

have been working in partnership with the River Murray and Mallee and Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporations exploring the

Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria downstream to Blanchetown. The major town centres are Renmark, Berri, Loxt ...

area. They found Aboriginal artefacts, including two

perforated A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...

shells dated to around 600 years ago, and a shell with a

serrated Serration is a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections. A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. By having less contact area than a smooth blade or other edge, the applied p ...

edge, dating from around 6,000 years ago, at Calperum Station and Murrawong (near Murray Bridge). Uses for the rare artefacts are still under investigation, but both functional and aesthetic uses are likely.

Footnotes

Citations and references

Citations

References

* * * * * *

External links

Australian Government official webpage

Australian Landscape Trust official webpage

Entry for Calperum Station on Protected Planet
{{Stations of South Australia Protected areas managed by the Australian government Protected areas established in 1993 1993 establishments in Australia Riverland Murray Mallee