Connells Lagoon Conservation Reserve also known as Dalgajini 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

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 Aus ...

. It is situated approximately north east of

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termi ...

and south east of Elliott on the eastern boundary of

Brunette Downs Station Brunette Downs Station, mostly referred to as Brunette Downs, is a pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. Location Brunette Downs Station is located in the Northern Territory about north-ea ...

. The area is found in the middle of the

Barkly Tableland The Barkly Tableland is a rolling plain of grassland in Australia. It runs from the eastern part of the Northern Territory into western Queensland. It is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory and covers , 21% of the Northern Terr ...

and was established primarily to conserve

Mitchell grass ''Astrebla'' is a small genus of xerophytic (adapted to survive in an environment with little liquid water) grasses found only in Australia. They are the dominant grass across much of the continent. They are commonly known as Mitchell grass aft ...

land communities. The landscape is predominantly flat with watercourses found in the northern areas where small stands of trees are found. Bluebush is also found in the wettest areas. The area contains black soil plains with cracking clays underlain by flat beds of Middle

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ag ...

Camooweal Dolomite. On the higher areas graveley red-earth is found. The lagoon from which the reserve takes its name is found just outside the boundary fence. A biological survey was conducted in the area in 1982 and researchers found 189 plant species, 53 species of bird, 19 reptile species and 9 species of mammal. Several of the birds are endangered including the flock bronzewing pigeon, red-chested button-quail,

Australian bustard The Australian bustard (''Ardeotis australis'') is a large ground dwelling bird which is common in grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It stands at about high, and its wingspan is ...

and the pictorella mannikin. 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 rights ...

of the lands are the Wambaya people, and it is part of the larger area of Rumburriya semi-moiety land known as Mangurinji. The area is significant to the Wambaya as ancestral beings known as Mangaya that feature in the

dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his col ...

created several features in the area.

Pastoralists 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 animal ...

arrived in the area in the 1880s and the area was used as a stock reserve along the Barkly

stock route A stock route, also known as travelling stock route (TSR), is an authorised thoroughfare for the walking of domestic livestock such as sheep or cattle from one location to another in Australia. The stock routes across the country are colloquially ...

which was heavily trafficked up until the 1960s when road transport replaced

overlanding Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, it is accomplished with mechanized off-road capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal ...

. Cattle and fire have been excluded from the area since 1984 when the area was gazetted and fenced. In 2002, the conservation reserve was listed on the now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

References

External links

Official webpage
{{Protected areas of the Northern Territory, state=collapsed Conservation reserves in the Northern Territory Important Bird Areas of the Northern Territory 1994 establishments in Australia Protected areas established in 1994 Northern Territory places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

See also

References

External links