The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, 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 o ...

which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The name is also used for a tourist region and a wine zone both located in the same part of South Australia.

Extent

The Limestone Coast is a South Australian Government Region which consists of land within the following local government areas located in the south east of the state: the

City of Mount Gambier The City of Mount Gambier is a local government area centred in Mount Gambier in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. While it is the southernmost ''city'' council in the state, the District Council of Grant is the southernmost counc ...

and the District Councils of

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

, Kingston,

Robe A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoil ...

, Tatiara and Naracoorte Lucindale and the

Wattle Range Council Wattle Range Council is a local government area in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. It stretches from the coast at Beachport east to the Victorian border. It had a population of over 11,000 as at the 2016 Census. The council is ...

, and the extent of "coastal waters" up to three nautical miles seaward of the low water mark between the border with

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in the east and the northern boundary of the Kingston District Council in the north-west.

Industry regions with the same name

Limestone Coast Tourism Region

The words 'Limestone Coast' also used in the name of a tourism region which occupies a similar part of South Australia. The tourism region consists of the following local government areas: the City of Mount Gambier,

The Coorong District Council Coorong District Council is a local government area in South Australia located between the River Murray and the Limestone Coast region. The district cover mostly rural areas with small townships, as well as part of the Coorong National Park. ...

, the District Councils of Grant, Kingston, Robe, Tatiara and Naracoorte Lucindale, and the Wattle Range Council.

Limestone Coast Wine Zone

The words 'Limestone Coast' also used in the name of a wine zone which occupies a similar part of South Australia. The wine zone is the land south of a line located at appropriately 36 degrees 50 minutes south, i.e. in line with

Cape Willoughby Cape Willoughby is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the east end of the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island in the gazetted locality of Willoughby about south east of the town of Penneshaw. The cape is describ ...

at the east end of

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

. The zone includes the following

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

-growing regions: Coonawarra, Mount Benson,

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

, Padthaway,

and

Wrattonbully Wrattonbully is a wine region in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia's South East, between the Padthaway and Coonawarra regions, between the Riddoch Highway and the Victorian border.Longbottom et al., 2011, page 20 The Wrattonbu ...

Location and description

From the Victoria border to the Younghusband Peninsula this area has been settled since colonisation by mainly European settlers in the 1840s, displacing an indigenous population that had resided in the region for thousands of years. The region currently supports

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Towns include Bordertown,

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...

Millicent Millicent or Milicent is a female given name that has been in use since the Middle Ages. The English form Millicent derives from the Old French '' Melisende'', from the Germanic ''amal'' "work" and ''swinth'' "strength".Withycombe, E.G., comp. (19 ...

, Penola, and Naracoorte and the coastal resorts of Beachport,

Kingston SE Kingston SE (Kingston South East to distinguish it from Kingston-on-Murray) formerly Kingston is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state's south-east coastline on the shores of Lacepede Bay. It is located about ...

and

. Much of the Limestone Coast is low-lying, and was inundated by sea as recently as 2 million years ago. It had previously also been flooded 15–20 million years ago. The plains are lined by rows of low sandhills parallel to the coast, created at times when the coastline was at that level. Prior to European settlement, much of the land between the sandhills was swamp fed by streams and subject to inundation. A network of drains totalling 1450 km has been constructed to channel the water away through the sandhills to the ocean. Important areas of wetland remain including the lakes and lagoons such as the southern end of the Coorong and

Bool Lagoon Bool may refer to: People * Al Bool (1897–1981), American baseball player * Henry Bool (1846–1922), American anarchist Places * Bool (Ludhiana East), a village in Punjab, India * Bool, Tagbilaran, a barangay (suburb) in the Philippines * Bool ...

. Meanwhile, areas of upland in the Limestone Coast include the volcanic

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms * Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet * Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surf ...

s of

. The

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

of this coast is cool and moist with wet winters.

History

There are deep limestone deposits created from the coral and other sealife. The limestone in Victoria Fossil Cave and the other Naracoorte Caves contains are Australia's biggest source of fossils and a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Ecology

Flora

The natural vegetation was woodland of

River Red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

and other

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

trees.

Fauna

Although there are few purely endemic species the coast is rich in wildlife including

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban ...

Cercartetus The genus ''Cercartetus'' is a group of very small possums known as pygmy possums. Four species comprise this genus, which together with the genus '' Burramys'' make up the marsupial family Burramyidae. It has occasionally been presumed that ' ...

pygmy possum The pygmy possums are a family of small possums that together form the marsupial family Burramyidae. The five extant species of pygmy possum are grouped into two genera. Four of the species are endemic to Australia, with one species also co-oc ...

Petaurus The genus ''Petaurus'' () contains flying phalangers or wrist-winged gliders, a group of arboreal possums native to Australia, New Guinea, and surrounding islands. There are eight species: the sugar glider, savanna glider, Krefft's glider ...

Gliding possum There are many different types of gliding possum, sometimes referred to as volplane possum, flying phalangers, or simply as gliders: Australian gliders * Feathertail glider or pygmy gliding possum, ''Acrobates pygmaeus'' * Greater glider, ''Petau ...

s, and other marsupials many of which do not spread further west than here. Endemic species include reptiles such as the

striped legless lizard The striped legless lizard (''Delma impar'') is a species of lizards in the Pygopodidae family endemic to Australia. As of 2015 it is threatened with extinction, with few habitats left. The lizard is up to 30 cm in length.Department of Env ...

''(Delma impar)'' and invertebrates like an endemic cave cricket. The Naracoorte caves are occupied by the

common bent-wing bat The common bent-wing bat (''Miniopterus schreibersii''), also known as the Schreibers's long-fingered bat or Schreibers's bat, is a species of insectivorous bat. They appear to have dispersed from a subtropical origin and distributed throughout ...

. The lakes and lagoons are particularly important habitats for waterbirds such as

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon ...

, grey teal,

Pacific black duck The Pacific black duck (''Anas superciliosa''), commonly known as the PBD, is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the no ...

, and especially the critically endangered

orange-bellied parrot The orange-bellied parrot (''Neophema chrysogaster'') is a small parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only three species of parrot that migrate. It was described by John Latham in 1790. A small parrot around long, it exhibits sex ...

''(Neophema chrysogaster)'' which winters here along with many other birds including the red-necked stint (''Calidris ruficollis''),

sharp-tailed sandpiper The sharp-tailed sandpiper (''Calidris acuminata'') (but see below) is a small wader. Taxonomy A review of data has indicated that this bird should perhaps better be placed into the genus ''Philomachus'' – as ''P. acuminatus'' – which now ...

(''Calidris acuminata''), and curlew sandpiper (''Calidris ferruginea''). Most of the original habitat has been cleared for agriculture and only fragments remain (particularly in areas of wetland) with

Coorong National Park Coorong National Park is a protected area located in South Australia about south-east of Adelaide, that predominantly covers a coastal lagoon ecosystem officially known as The Coorong and the Younghusband Peninsula on the Coorong's southern s ...

and

Canunda National Park Canunda National Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located about southeast of Adelaide, on the coast about southwest of Millicent. It consists of coastal dunes, limestone cliffs, and natural bushland. The be ...

being the largest areas. Therefore, most indigenous wildlife has also disappeared or been severely reduced in number with introduced species of animals an ongoing threat to that which remains.

External links

Regional website - local weather, street maps, events etcOfficial tourist website

SouthAustralia.com Limestone Coast - travel guides, accommodation, online booking

Limestone Coast - National Parks

References

{{South Australia Coastline of South Australia Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub in Australia Naracoorte woodlands Regions of South Australia