44-682: The Crocodile Islands Maringa Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a region inclusive of the 20 islands of the Crocodile Islands archipelago, managed by Millingimbi Outstations Progress Resource Aboriginal Corporation through the Crocodile Islands Rangers . It is located around 440 kilometres east of Darwin covering an area of approximately 8,000 square kilometres. IPAs are areas of land and sea Country managed by First Nations groups for biodiversity conservation and cultural outcomes through voluntary agreements with
88-462: A different topographical nature to the rest of the Flinders, being composed of roughly flat-lying strata, creating a high plateau into which spectacular gorges have been cut, instead of the buckled and folded strata further south which lead to the ubiquitous cuestas of Wilpena Pound . The Gammons are dominated by "The Plateau" in the southwest, which is contiguous with and of much the same height as
132-483: A legal challenge by the mining company was defeated, a commitment was made by both major political parties in South Australia to extinguish all mining claims in the area, and re-proclaim the national park with a complete ban on all mining. The national park remains remote and relatively inaccessible. The Copley -Arkaroola dirt road (passable to 2WD vehicles) passes through Italowie Gap at the southern edge of
176-784: A national conference of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders held in 1997, it was agreed and resolved by the delegates present that a new class of "Indigenous" protected area should be formed as follows: An Indigenous Protected Area is [to be] governed by the continuing responsibilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to care for and protect lands and waters for present and future generations... Indigenous Protected Areas may include areas of land and waters over which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are custodians , and which shall be managed for cultural biodiversity and conservation, permitting customary sustainable resource use and sharing of benefit. The first trialling of this new environmental partnership aimed at adding
220-614: A seven-hour marathon. By 1948 the Plateau had been traversed in all directions, although the highest parts of the ranges are still out of limits for all but experienced bushwalkers. In the 1960s a group of American astronomers became interested in the higher peaks of the Gammons as possible sites for an observatory, and several parties camped for some time on the summits of Mount McKinlay and Benbonyathe Hill (vehicle tracks were also graded to
264-484: A small cattle station in the pound in the early part of the twentieth century. Grindell had a difficult relationship with his son-in-law George Snell, who ran the neighbouring Yankaninna station, suspecting him of rustling cattle. When Snell disappeared in August 1918, and a search party found remains at a campfire in the ranges, Grindell was arrested and charged with Snell's murder. Despite the evidence being flimsy, Grindell
308-507: A variety of habitats that includes deserts and savannas , giving plant and animal species the space they need to manoeuvre around threats like bushfires and climate change . Two new areas were declared in Western Australia in 2020, bringing the total number to 78. In September 2021, a further seven IPAs were declared, which will lead to IPAs comprising more than half of Australia's National Reserve System. In May 2022,
352-532: Is a class of protected area used in Australia ; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians , and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations. Each is formally recognised by the Australian Government as being part of its National Reserve System . The areas may comprise land and sea, and are managed by Indigenous groups for
396-441: Is available online from several sources. New South Wales IPAs include: Northern Territory IPAs include: Queensland IPAs include: South Australian IPAs include: Tasmanian IPAs include: Victorian IPAs include: Western Australian IPAs include: New areas declared September 2021: As of 2022 , there are 20 new proposed IPAs under consultation at the following locations: The World Future Council (WFC) awarded
440-493: Is named for the fact that, its immediate surrounds being so rugged, it's usually seen as a blue haze in the distance! The Aboriginal name for the area is Arkaroo, the name of a legendary great snake. Arkaroo is reputed to have drunk up all the water in Lake Frome, but, upset by its saltiness, he wriggled into the depths of the ranges, where his upset stomach continues to rumble to this day. The booming noises which are heard in
484-697: The Nantawarrina Indigenous Protected Area was declared. At the opening ceremony in 1998, Nantawarrina was declared "the first Indigenous Protected Area in South Australia, Australia and internationally" by Gurtrude Johnson, an Adnyamathanha traditional owner . By 2007 the kind of partnership agreed and started with the Nantawarrina Indigenous Protected Area had grown to include 23 declared Indigenous Protected Areas covering close to 170,000 km (66,000 sq mi), or 23 per cent of
SECTION 10
#1732787310047528-568: The National Reserve System . By agreeing to establish Indigenous Protected Areas, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples contributed two-thirds of all new additions to Australia's National Reserve System over the decade 1997–2007. In July 2012, The Nature Conservancy , alongside the Central Land Council and government representatives from Australia’s National Reserve System , helped announce
572-725: The conservation of biodiversity . Managing IPAs also helps to protect the cultural values of their country for future generations, and has benefits for Indigenous health, education, economic and social cohesion. As of 2020, there were 78 IPAs, covering around 46.53% of the National Reserve system. In September 2021, a further seven IPAs were declared, which will lead to IPAs comprising more than half of Australia's National Reserve System. Indigenous rangers are employed to work in IPAs as well as in other remote areas of Australia, on land management and related projects. During
616-404: The rabbit calicivirus . The Gammon Ranges and Arkaroola Important Bird Area is an area identified being important by BirdLife International because it supports a population of the restricted-range short-tailed grasswren as well as populations of the pied honeyeater , chirruping wedgebill and cinnamon quail-thrush includes the national park within its boundaries. It is not known where
660-585: The 1990s the Australian Government was working in cooperation with State and Territory Governments to build a National Reserve System aimed at protecting, for future generations , a representative sample of Australia's diverse range of flora, fauna and eco-systems. As part of this effort, Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander owners of lands and seas were asked, and many who were interested in re-establishing effective indigenous land management agreed to participate in this endeavour. At
704-529: The Australian Government to establish an Indigenous Protected Area on their lands/seas. However, an Indigenous Protected Area can only come into existence where: Most IPAs are dedicated under IUCN Categories 5 and 6, which promote a balance between conservation and other sustainable uses to deliver social, cultural and economic benefits for local Indigenous communities. Indigenous rangers are employed to work in IPAs as well as in other remote areas of Australia, on land management and related projects. IPA data
748-480: The Australian Government. These areas for part of Australia's National Reserve System . The Crocodile Islands Maringa IPA was declared in 2023. The area consists of mangroves, mudflats, coastal floodplains, monsoon forests, eucalypt forests, shallow seas and reefs that are home to 44 threatened species and some of northern Australia's biggest aggregations of shorebirds, including great knots . Indigenous Protected Area An Indigenous Protected Area ( IPA )
792-535: The Blue Range further northeast, culminating in Benbonyathe Hill (1064m), the highest point in the Flinders north of Wilpena. Other summits on the largely flat range and plateau include Elephant Hill (with adjacent outliers North Tusk and South Tusk), Mount Changeweather, Four Winds Hill, and Prow Point. Of these "rounded hills" of the plateau, Warren Bonython writes that "at their edge the slope, which
836-680: The Indigenous Protected Areas and Indigenous Rangers programs with the"Bronze Future Policy Award 2017: Desertification ". Gammon Ranges The Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park is a protected area in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia , immediately south-west of and adjacent to the Arkaroola Protection Area . They encompass some of the most rugged and spectacular country in South Australia. The central ranges are of
880-503: The Plateau and main central ranges were investigated and explored. On Bonython's first journey onto the Blue Range in 1946 several kilometres south of Benbonyathe Hill, one of his two companions, Bob Crocker, slipped and broke his leg, which resulted in Bonython walking more than twenty kilometres to Balcanoona station to organise a rescue effort: in the end Bob was carried off the 3,000-foot (910 m) high range by improvised stretcher in
924-460: The Yankaninna station in 1968, a national park being declared in 1970. Balcanoona station was purchased in 1980, and the lands officially added to the national park two years later. The dual-usage national park (an arrangement under which some mining is permitted) has also been subject to mining claims and some controversy, not unfamiliar to the area considering the extensive uranium deposits in
SECTION 20
#1732787310047968-481: The adjacent Arkaroola Sanctuary. One of the most visible of the claims in the Gammons is in Weetootla Gorge, wherein a hill is composed almost entirely of magnesite ; BHP had explored this area and placed a claim on it, though no plans were made to mine it. In 2000, another company made moves to acquire the claim, with view to exploiting the deposit. The government blocked the transfer of the lease, and after
1012-493: The bordering pastoral station of Yankaninna providing the closest road. Visitors must climb over the Yankaninna Range or walk in from Arcoona Bluff at the extreme northwest corner of the ranges to access the interior. Water in the ranges is sparse and difficult to rely on: there are water tanks on the outskirts at Grindells Hut, Italowie Gap, and Arcoona Bluff. There are a number of waterholes, some of which are deep in
1056-404: The dramatic Cleft Peak is also often visited, so-named for a spectacular cleft separating it into two summits, and providing opportunities for rockclimbing to a summit, not often necessary with peaks in the Flinders. The high central range and plateau is surrounded by a number of smaller outlying ranges, creating the encircling "pounds" of low hills: Balcanoona Range encloses Illinawortina Pound to
1100-506: The east, Mainwater Pound is to the north, enclosed by the Yankaninna Range, and Arcoona Pound to the west. There are also several major mountains on the margin of the Gammons, two of which are actually higher the main range: Gammon Hill (1012m) in the north, overlooking Mainwater and Arcoona Pounds, and Mount McKinlay (1050m) dominating the south. The local Aboriginal people are the Adnyamathanha . The current generation live largely on
1144-564: The first proposed Indigenous Protected area was held by the South Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust (on a 99-year lease, for the Adnyamathanha people ), and, by 26 August 1998, an agreement had been reached to see the people of Nepabunna Aboriginal community engaged and some employed in restoring the landscape to its former natural and cultural value, and Australia's first Indigenous Protected Area,
1188-506: The highest point in the ranges he could see, which he thought was Eyre's Mount Serle: however, his paintings show it to be Mount McKinlay (named fifteen years later after John McKinlay , a local who became famous for leading one of several rescue expeditions for Burke and Wills in 1861). A private surveyor, J.M. Painter, was employed in a survey of the area in 1857 (in the company of George Goyder ). His party climbed Gammon Hill and Mount McKinlay (which Frome did not), but didn't penetrate to
1232-426: The incoming Labor government under Anthony Albanese committed to boosting the funding for managing the IPAs to the tune of A$ 10 million annually; also to doubling the number of Indigenous rangers to 38,000 by 2030, and also to improving gender diversity in employment. Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander land and sea owners (including native title holders ) may be encouraged, or themselves apply to
1276-709: The launch of the Southern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area . This Indigenous Protected Area is Australia’s largest land reserve, spanning 10,150,000 hectares (25,100,000 acres). It protects important pieces of the Northern Territory ’s natural legacy. Included in the Southern Tanami reserve are much of Lake Mackay —Australia’s second-largest lake—and an enormous swathe of the Tanami Desert. This IPA links
1320-631: The mining controversies attendant with the national park (see below), this area of the national park is traversed by the Moomba Adelaide Pipeline System gas pipeline. The first European to see the ranges was probably Edward Eyre on his 1840 expedition along the western side of the Flinders Ranges. Attempting to find a way through the salt lakes that he thought barred the path to the north, he climbed Mount Serle ; in his published expedition journal, he wrote that "to
1364-410: The name "gammon" comes from. Warren Bonython has a number of suggestions: it might be "gammon" the verb meaning "hoax" in reference to the thick scrub on the ranges (he notes an area near Adelaide called 'Humbug Scrub' as precedent). He settles for the meaning of gammon as a piece of bacon, saying that Gammon Hill does, under "certain conditions", look like a piece of bacon. Hearsay claims the Blue Range
Crocodile Islands Maringa Indigenous Protected Area - Misplaced Pages Continue
1408-479: The national park (as with all the Flinders) is feral goats, which are capable of traversing the rugged stony terrain, and which, thanks to the lack of predators, flourish. These introduced animals are pests due to the damage their hoofs do to the ground, and the vegetation they consume. The population in the national park has been reduced by means of hunters staking out waterholes and helicopters picking off animals on
1452-499: The national park and is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register . The mine had only successfully operated for three years in the 1870s. The area encompassed by the ranges was always pastoral land, although much of it is so inaccessible and rugged to be unattractive to anything but goats and bushwalkers. The northwestern part of the ranges was first taken into government care from the hands of
1496-402: The national park, from where it is a one-day walk north to Mount McKinlay. There is a 4WD track around Mount McTaggart into Illinawortina Pound, leading to Grindell's Hut and Loch Ness Well, from where bushwalkers may climb Mount John Roberts, an outlying bluff of the Blue Range which dominates the pound. Access to the northern side of the national park is even more difficult, with the 4WD track to
1540-452: The neighbouring station of Mount Serle and Aboriginal lands at Nepabunna and Nantawarrina. The national park is managed under a co-operative system which involves Adnyamathanha people in its operation. Also included in the national park is a wide strip of territory running 40 km from the edge of the ranges to the shores of Lake Frome , an area which is used by the local Aboriginal people for hunting kangaroos and emus. Curiously, regarding
1584-412: The new class of Protected Areas to Australia's National Reserve System, was with the Adnyamathanha people of Nepabunna Aboriginal community, volunteering 580 square kilometres (220 sq mi) of rugged limestone hills, siltstone flats, springs and waterholes between the Flinders Ranges and Gammon Ranges National Parks to be managed as an Indigenous Protected Area. The land selected for
1628-491: The north-east, the view was obstructed by a high range immediately in front of us". This high range was the southern and western heights of the Gammons. The next explorer to reach the area was the Surveyor General, Edward Charles Frome , on his second expedition up the eastern side of the Flinders three years later. After finding his route to the east blocked by the lake which would later bear his name, he headed for
1672-505: The peaks of the central range or plateau. One of several survey cairns built on a line they surveyed between Mount Rowe and Arcoona Bluff on the western edge of the ranges has been restored and can be visited today (photo below). The area has a colourful history of pastoral settlement dating from the turn of the century: the now-restored holiday cottage Grindell's Hut in Illinawortina Pound is named after John Grindell, who ran
1716-437: The ranges and quite reliable, but all of them have been known to dry up in years of extreme drought. The national park is situated south of the dingo fence , meaning it is situated in that area, where dingoes prosecuted and usually rare or absent. Wild dogs and foxes are poisoned regularly in the national park. Among the animals, which are protected in the national park, is the yellow-footed rock wallaby. One problem plaguing
1760-416: The ridge-tops: the help of the local sporting shooters' association has been employed in managing the problem. Undergrowth vegetation has improved markedly in recent years, presumably reflecting reduced numbers. Large-scale baiting programs carried out as part of Operation Bounceback have reduced the number of foxes in the national park. Rabbit numbers have declined by approximately 85% since the introduction of
1804-459: The southern end of the ranges; he later became a millionaire and a renowned clothing brand carries his name. The ranges were explored more thoroughly in the first half of the 20th century: the Greenwood family, pastoralists in the area, had explored the edges in the twenties and thirties, discovering Fern Chasm, but it was not until expeditions by Warren Bonython and others in the late 1940s that
Crocodile Islands Maringa Indigenous Protected Area - Misplaced Pages Continue
1848-476: The summits), but nothing further was done (a large observatory is located at Arkaroola, about a hundred kilometres to the northeast). Relics from these camps remain on the summits of the two hills, and there is reportedly still an overgrown vehicle track along the top of the Blue Range in places. A historic former mining site, the Bolla Bollana Brick Kiln and Copper Smelter Ruins , lies within
1892-561: Was convicted at Port Augusta in December and sentenced to death, though it was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released from prison in 1928, dying two years later at the age of 77. A restored building at the site of his old hut is now rented out as a holiday cottage. The bushman R. M. Williams is reputed to have learnt everything he knew about boot-making and leather from another man he met while camped in Italowie Gap at
1936-509: Was gentle near the crest, progressively steepens and then changes dramatically into a precipice plunging down to a rock-strewn creek bed perhaps a thousand feet below" Some of the features of the ranges are the deep gorges cut in the south-eastern side of the Blue Range: Bunyip Chasm , The Terraces, and Fern Chasm are all areas often visited by bushwalkers. Although lower than the mountains which surround it on three sides,
#46953