Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

covering about in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is situated about east of

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

and north west of

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

, and is accessed via the

Gibb River Road The Gibb River Road is a road in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia. Description The road is a former cattle route that stretches in an east–west direction almost through the Kimberley between the to ...

. It is named after the Charnley River that flows through the property. It is operated as a sanctuary by the

Australian Wildlife Conservancy The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an independent Australian nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. AWC is the largest private owner and manager of land for conservation in Austral ...

(AWC), a public charity. The sanctuary occupies the former Charnley River Station, a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Austral ...

that operated as a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

and was formerly known as the Beverley Springs Station, along with land owned by the

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management A ...

and managed jointly with the AWC. The AWC leases part of the land to

Australian Capital Equity Kerry Matthew Stokes (born John Patrick Alford on 13 September 1940) is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in industries including electronic and print media, property, mining and construction equipment. He is most widely k ...

(ACE) after selling the cattle to them, and ACE now operates a cattle station on part of the land, excluding key areas such as rivers. The AWC operates a wilderness camp and interpretation centre in the sanctuary, and visitors can hike and swim in the sanctuary's gorges.

History of the station

Formerly known as the Beverley Springs Station, and covering an area of , the property was acquired in 1969 by the Nixon family in a run-down state. It was the first property along the Gibb River road to offer accommodation to tourists. Marion Nixon wrote ''Children in the Sun'', a book about raising her five children on the station, and later wrote ''Stop whispering Annie''. The Barrett family acquired the property in 1981. The two sons, Matt and Russell, discovered an unknown species of

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of pitcher plant are considered to be "true" pitcher plants and are formed by specialized ...

on the property, going on to be

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

s specialising in the Kimberley region. They rediscovered a species of ''

Auranticarpa ''Auranticarpa'' is a genus of trees in the family Pittosporaceae. All six species occur in monsoonal forest and rainforest margins in Northern Australia. The species, all formerly included in the genus ''Pittosporum ''Pittosporum'' ( or The ...

'' collected during the expedition of

Philip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King ''née'' Coom ...

in 1821 and later thought to be extinct. In 2010 the property was bought by Peter and Cheryl Camp, who renamed it the Charnley River Station, ran a herd of approximately 3,000 cattle, and built up its tourism potential. The property was sold again in February 2011, to Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Description

The sanctuary covers about of land. The AWC leases part of the land, the of the Charnley River Pastoral Station, to Australian Capital Equity, which operates a cattle station with

Brahman cattle In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, ...

bought from the AWC. The cattle are not allowed to roam freely over important ecological areas such as the river systems, and the AWC works on controlling

feral animal A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

s and weeds throughout the sanctuary. The WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions owns the other , managed by the Parks and Wildlife Service in partnership with AWC. The AWC undertakes research on methods of

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

, control of feral animals (which include pigs, donkeys, cattle and

brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

), especially in the lower-lying

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

areas in the southern and eastern parts of the sanctuary, and on the effect of the various threats on specific wildlife species. Access to the Charnley River Station, which caters for campers, although no longer provides accommodation or meals, is via the Gibb River Road. The station is away from the turnoff. There are three

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

s with freshwater pools (Paradise Pool, Dillie Gorge and Donkey Hole) within the old cattle station property, two of which are fed by springs. The property has its own

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

Species

The sanctuary is home to 11

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

of animals, and a further 29 that include species either

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

or with only isolated populations in the Kimberley.

Mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s include the Wyulda ( scaly-tailed possum), the tiny

rock-wallaby The rock-wallabies are the wallabies of the genus ''Petrogale''. Taxonomy The genus was established in 1837 by John Edward Gray in a revision of material at the British Museum of Natural History. Gray nominated his earlier description of ''K ...

known as monjon, and the

Kimberley rock rat The Kimberley rock rat (''Zyzomys woodwardi'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia, specifically in the northern tropical part of the Northern Territory and adjacent Kimberley region of Western Australia, ...

. Endemic birds on the property include the

black grasswren The black grasswren (''Amytornis housei''), known as dalal to the Wunambal people, is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Western Australia. Naturalist Frederick Maurice House discovered the black grasswren in 1901, as ...

and Kimberley honeyeater, and there are a number of endemic

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

species, such as the

rough-scaled python The rough-scaled python (''Morelia carinata'') is a large-scaled python species endemic to Australia. No subspecies are currently recognized. Description The rough-scaled python is able to grow to around in total length. It has a triangular-sha ...

, Kimberley crevice skink, and a number of

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

species. There are species which are now

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

in large areas where they were previously present, including the

golden-backed tree-rat The golden-backed tree rat (''Mesembriomys macrurus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae, found only in Australia. Its native range was across Northern Australia, but it has since become extinct from these regions. It is now only fo ...

and the

golden bandicoot The golden bandicoot (''Isoodon auratus''; Yolngu: ''Wan'kurra'') is a short-nosed bandicoot found in northern Australia. It is the smallest of its genus, and is distinguished from the brown bandicoots by its golden colouring and much smaller ...

Adjoining properties

On the south-west the Sanctuary shares a boundary with Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges Conservation Park, which was formerly Mount Hart Station. Mount House Station is to the south-east.

Wilinggin and Munja

Charnley River is bounded on the north and east by Wilinggin Indigenous Protected Area. The (historic) Munja Aboriginal Cattle Station, also known as the Munja Aboriginal reserve, lay or lies just to the east of the

Walcott Inlet Walcott Inlet is an estuary located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It flows into Collier Bay, in the Indian Ocean, via a narrow gap known as Yule Entrance. The inlet was named on 19 June 1865 by Trevarton Charles Sholl after St ...

, within the Artesian Range, either within the Wilinggin IPA or within the Charnley River sanctuary. Around 700

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

were based around this location in 1927, which was initially government-run before being transferred to the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

in 1940, although negotiations were not completed until 1949 owing to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was also known as Avon Valley Cattle Station.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charnley River-Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary Stations in the Kimberley (Western Australia) Protected areas of Western Australia Kimberley tropical savanna