| Torrens Island Conservation Park | |
|---|---|
  Torrens Island Conservation Park | |
| Location | South Australia |
| Nearest city | Port Adelaide[2] |
| Coordinates | 34°47′4″S138°31′46″E / 34.78444°S 138.52944°E /-34.78444; 138.52944[1] |
| Area | 6.35 km2 (2.45 sq mi)[3] |
| Established | 28 November 1963[4] |
| Governing body | Department for Environment and Water |
Torrens Island Conservation Park (formerly Torrens Island National Park Reserve and Torrens Island Wild-life Reserve) is aprotected area in the Australian state ofSouth Australia located onTorrens Island in theAdelaide metropolitan area about 17 kilometres (11 miles) north-northwest of the state capital ofAdelaide and about 3.9 kilometres (2.4 miles) north-northeast ofPort Adelaide.[2]
The conservation park consists of land in Allotments 300 and 304 in Deposited Plan 90964, and sections 464 and 467 in the cadastral unit of theHundred of Port Adelaide.[5][6] This consists of all of Torrens Island down tolow water with exception to the most of land associated with theformer quarantine station and the land associated with theQuarantine andTorrens Island Power Stations, and some land exposed at low water at the eastern end ofGarden Island.[2]
On 28 November 1963, land in section 467 was proclaimed as a "wild-life reserve" under theNational Park and Wild Life Reserves Act 1891.[4] On 9 November 1967, it was proclaimed as theTorrens Island National Park Reserve under theNational Parks Act 1966 in respect to section 467 in the Hundred of Port Adelaide. On 27 April 1972, it was reconstituted asTorrens Island Conservation Park upon the proclamation of theNational Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.[3][5][7] On 23 January 2014, the following land in the Hundred of Port Adelaide was added to the conservation park all subject to the preservation of rights under thePetroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 for the "construction or operation of a transmission pipeline" - Allotments 300 and 304 in Deposited Plan 90964, and Section 464.[6][8] As of 2016, it covered an area of 6.35 square kilometres (2.45 sq mi).[3]
In 1980, the conservation park was described as follows:[9]
Situated at the northern end of Torrens Island, which lies near the mouth of thePort River, this park preserves asalt marsh land system. The vegetation comprises a low woodland ofAvicennia marina var.resinifera (white mangrove) and low-shrubland ofSalicornia spp. and allied genera. Over thirty species of salt tolerant plants have been recorded for the park. The marshes breed a myriad of worms, shrimps and simple organisms on which fish feed, helping to stock the Port River for fishing and providing food for over forty species of birds. The latter include a number of rare or uncommon summer visiting waders, ie.Tringa terek (terek sandpiper),Limosa lapponica (bar-tailed godwit),Numenius minutus (whimbrel) andPluvialis dominica (lesser golden plover) ... The park is relatively undisturbed, although rabbits, which cross from the mainlands at low tide, are very common on the Island.
In 2014, it was reported as protecting ‘areas ofmangrove forest,samphireshrubland and sand dune systems home to vulnerable and threatened species such as theAustralasian bittern, thefairy tern and thewhite-bellied sea eagle’.[10]
The conservation park is also respectively fully and partially within the boundaries of the following protected areas - theAdelaide Dolphin Sanctuary and theBarker Inlet-St Kilda Aquatic Reserve.[2]
The conservation park is classified as anIUCN Category III protected area. In 1980, it was listed on the now-defunctRegister of the National Estate[9][1]
This article incorporatestext byCommonwealth of Australia available under theCC BY 3.0 AU licence.