__NOTOC__ Messent Conservation Park, formerly the Messent National Park and the Messent Wildlife Reserve, 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 ...

in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

located in the state’s south-east in the gazetted localities of Colebatch and Deepwater about south-east of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and about north-east of the town centre in Salt Creek. The conservation park consists of land in sections 1 and 65 of the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Colebatch and Sections 1 and 10 in the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Messent. Section 1 in the Hundred of Messent first acquired protected area status as a wild-life reserve proclaimed under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929''. On 9 November 1967, this land was proclaimed as the ''Messent National Park'' under the ''National Parks Act 1966''. On 18 June 1970, section 1 in the Hundred of Colebatch was added to the national park. On 27 April 1972, the national park was reconstituted as the ''Messent Conservation Park'' under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia, consisting of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of 2018, South Australia contained 359 separat ...

''. On 6 December 1979, section 65 in Hundred of Colebatch and section 19 in Hundred of Messent were added to the conservation park. As of 2018, it covered an area of . In 1980, the conservation park was described as follows:

Messent Conservation Park conserves a large area of open scrub, open heath and tussock sedgeland, which include seven rare plant species. These associations, in turn, provide valuable habitat for
western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, i ...
s,
wombat Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials of the family Vombatidae that are native to Australia. Living species are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . They are adaptable and habitat tolerant, and are ...
s,
echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the Family (biology), family Tachyglossidae , living in Australia and New Guinea. The four Extant taxon, extant species of echidnas ...
s, ash-grey mice,
emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...
s,
mallee fowl 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 ...
and a variety of waterbirds… This park is an extensive area of sand plain overlain by stabilized sand dunes. Sedge flats, swamps and a lake occur in the interdunal depressions. The vegetation is primarily ''
Eucalyptus diversifolia ''Eucalyptus diversifolia'', commonly known as the soap mallee, coastal white mallee, South Australian coastal mallee, or coast gum is a species of Mallee (habit), mallee that is Endemism, endemic to an area along the southern coast of Australia. ...
'' open scrub with relatively large areas of open heath and tussock sedgeland… Messent is currently recovering (regenerating) from a recent bushfire (1977). The swamps and lake do not fill to the same level as they used to in the past and this may be attributed (at least in part) to the drainage of swampy land further to the south…

The conservation park is categorised as an

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Category III protected area In 1980, it 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

Webpage for the Messent Conservation Park on the Protected Planet website
{{Protected areas of South Australia, state=collapsed Conservation parks of South Australia Naracoorte woodlands Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in Australia South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

See also

References

External links