Munyaroo Conservation Park 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 ...

in the gazetted locality of

Midgee ''Midgee'' is a genus of Australian Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders in the family Toxopidae, first described by Valerie Todd Davies, V. T. Davies in 1995. Species it contains nine species: *''Midgee alta'' Davies, 1995 – Australia (Queens ...

located on the east coast of the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

about south south-west of

Whyalla Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's Hill, and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Gawler, and along ...

and east north-east of Cowell. The conservation park consists of three separate blocks of land - two adjoin the coastline with

Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe an ...

respectively immediately south of Muminnie Beach and Plank Point and the third being located to the west on the east side of the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

. The conservation park was proclaimed 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 13 October 1977. On 20 August 2009, the Munyaroo Conservation Reserve which have been dedicated as a

conservation reserve A conservation reserve is a protected area set aside for conservation purposes. Conservation reserves by country Australia In South Australia, a conservation reserve is a type of protected area declared under the ''Crown Land Management Act 200 ...

on 11 November 1993 under the state's ''Crown Lands Act 1929'' was added to the conservation park. The conservation park was constituted to permit access under the state's ''Mining Act 1971'' to its west and south portions only. The land protected by the conservation park was considered in 2014 by its managing authority to be significant for the following reasons:

Munyaroo Conservation Park (20 139 ha) consists of three separate areas in close proximity to each other on the Spencer Gulf coastline. They provide an important habitat link between the coastal vegetation and inland mallee of the peninsula. The two large coastal blocks include low impact sandy beaches with an intertidal zone of
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
and
samphire Samphire is a name given to a number of succulent salt-tolerant plants (halophytes) that tend to be associated with water bodies. * Rock samphire ('' Crithmum maritimum'') is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in Ireland, the Uni ...
communities. These communities provide habitat for shorebirds such as
plover Plovers ( , ) are members of a widely distributed group of wader, wading birds of subfamily Charadriinae. The term "plover" applies to all the members of the subfamily, though only about half of them include it in their name. Species lis ...
s,
tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...
s and the
Sooty Oystercatcher The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its fea ...
which is listed as rare 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 ...
''. Behind the coastal dune system are low open
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...
s of Western Myall and False Sandalwood, with a Bluebush and
Bladder Saltbush ''Atriplex vesicaria'', commonly known as bladder saltbush, is a species of flowering plant of the family ''Amaranthaceae'' and is endemic to arid and semi-arid inland regions of Australia. It is an upright or sprawling shrub with scaly leaves ...
understorey. The mallee and saltbush associations contain populations of the Yellow Swainson-pea which is listed as vulnerable under the ''National Parks and Wildlife Act'' and the Dwarf Four-toed Slider which is listed as rare under the act.

The conservation park is classified 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 VI protected area.

References

External links

Munyaroo Conservation Park webpage on protected planet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munyaroo Conservation Park Conservation parks of South Australia Protected areas established in 1977 1977 establishments in Australia Eyre Peninsula Spencer Gulf