Lesueur Conservation Park South Australia | |
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Nearest town or city | Penneshaw |
Coordinates | 35°51′34.73″S138°03′47.81″E / 35.8596472°S 138.0632806°E /-35.8596472; 138.0632806[1] |
Established | 21 January 1971[2] |
Area | 14.14 km2 (5.5 sq mi)[3] |
Managing authorities | Department for Environment and Water |
See also | Protected areas of South Australia |
Lesueur Conservation Park, formerly theCape Hart Conservation Park and the Cape Hart National Park, is aprotected area in the Australian state ofSouth Australia located on theDudley Peninsula onKangaroo Island.
It was dedicated in 1971 to conserve a representative example of the soils and coastal vegetation of the southern part of the eastern end of the island. It is characterised by impressive coastal cliff scenery.[4] Its name was changed on 28 March 2002 in honour ofCharles Alexandre Lesueur, a member of theBaudin expedition to Australia.[citation needed]
The conservation park has an area of 14.14 square kilometres (5.46 sq mi) including a 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) length of coastline.[3] It lies about 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles) south-west ofCape Willoughby, the easternmost point of Kangaroo Island, and 15 km south-east of the town ofPenneshaw. Geologically, the conservation park lies onsandstone, withgranite boulders along the coast. The vegetation is mainly an open scrub ofEucalyptus diversifolia (Soap Mallee), with lowshrubland containingMelaleuca gibbosa on the coastal cliffs. There are patches ofEucalyptus cneorifolia /Melaleuca uncinata openheath andAllocasuarina verticillata low open forest.Kangaroo Island kangaroos andTammar wallabies inhabit the conservation park andAustralian sea lions frequent the coast.[4][5]
The conservation park is classified as anIUCNCategory Ia protected area.[1]