Munga-Thirri Simpson Desert in SA declared as national park, making it Australia’s largest

With a million hectares more than its closest rival, SA can now say it has the country’s largest national park – and Cleland and Deep Creek can boast status upgrades.

South Australia is now officially home to the country’s largest national park.

Munga-Thirri – Simpson Desert National Park, which was officially proclaimed on Thursday, encompasses 3.6 million hectares of largely pristine arid country – making it more than a million hectares bigger than our next-largest national park in Kakadu.

Joining Munga-Thirri are two more new national parks – Wapma Thura – Southern Flinders Ranges National Park and Lake Frome National Park.

Cleland and Deep Creek parks have been upgraded from conservation parks to national parks.

The upgrades will grant more robust protection to Cleland and Deep Creek, both popular areas for day trips from the city and with interstate and international tourists.

Environment Minister David Speirs said the changes meant the state government had doubled the area protected as national parks in South Australia since coming into power, from approximately 3.90 million hectares to just over 7.9 million hectares.

“It is truly exciting that South Australia is now home to Australia’s largest national park and along with our other changes this provides a significant boost to conservation as well as enhance our reputation as a world-class eco-tourism destination,” Mr Speirs said.

“Our significant addition of land protected as national parks since 2018 includes areas right across South Australia from the Simpson Desert and Flinders Ranges in the north right through to Adelaide’s second metropolitan national park at Glenthorne in the heart of the southern suburbs.”

Orange desert landscape in the newly declared Munga-Thirri Simpson Desert National Park. Picture: Matt Turner

Wilderness Society South Australia Director Peter Owen welcomed the creation of the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park.

“For over a decade the Wilderness Society has been advocating for a conservation corridor in the heart of Australia, allowing endangered animals and plants to move and adapt to a rapidly changing climate,” said Mr Owen, who has been campaigning with the Wilderness Society to protect the region for more than a decade.

“This grand initiative is a significant step.”

He said the Simpson Desert region was a special part of Australia, with “the world’s longest parallel sand dunes, more than 900 species of plants and animals with continuous First Nations custodianship stretching back thousands of years”.

“When rain transforms this remarkable landscape into temporary wetlands, thousands of birds from across Australia flock here to feed and breed,” Mr Owen said.

“Then native flowers burst into colour across the burnt orange sand, a beautiful garden that seems to stretch into infinity”.

A thorny devil in Munga-Thirri Simpson Desert. Picture: Janelle Lugge

However Mr Owen warned that the region was still in the sights of fossil fuel companies.

“Proclaiming a national park sends a strong signal that an area is too precious to put at risk,” he said. “We hope fossil fuel company Tri-Star recognises this and withdraws their exploration proposal for the region, following the lead of BP, Chevron and Equinor who recently withdrew their drilling plans for the Great Australian Bight.

“If bulldozers were to rip through the Munga-Thirri’s shifting sand dunes and drill into fragile groundwater tables like the Great Artesian Basin it will destroy this pristine wilderness forever.”

Opposition environment spokeswoman Susan Close said she was unimpressed with the upgrading of Deep Creek and Cleland.

“These changes are typical Speirs hype over substance,” Ms Close said. “The changes are largely about the names of parks and designed to allow the minister to make an announcement without substantial changes to the protection of SA’s nature.”

THE CHANGES

• A new national park for the Simpson Desert has been made through changing the legal status of the existing Munga-Thirri – Simpson Desert Regional Reserve and Conservation Park.

• A new national park in the Southern Flinders Ranges Wapma Thura – Southern Flinders Ranges National Park comprises the former Telowie Gorge Conservation Park, Wirrabara Range Conservation Park, Spaniards Gully Conservation Park and a discrete portion of Mount Remarkable National Park known as the Napperby block.

• Two existing conservation parks – Cleland and Deep Creek – upgraded to become national parks, with the Cleland upgrade also incorporating Eurilla Conservation Park.

• Lake Frome Regional Reserve in the Northern Flinders Ranges has been upgraded to a national park in recognition of its significance as a large salt lake.