Significant expansion of Nilpena Ediacara National Park to boost tourism and biodiversity

Nilpena Ediacara National Park, South Australia’s newest national park - treasured for its collection of fossils containing Earth’s earliest complex animal life - will expand by 26,000 hectare after the South Australian Government acquired the adjacent Nilpena Station.

The expansion of Nilpena Ediacara National Park is a continuation of efforts to see the Flinders Ranges granted World Heritage listing.

The addition will bring the total area of the park to around 86,000 ha boosting the national target to protect and conserve 30% of Australia’s landmass by 2030.

Located in the western fringes of the Flinders Ranges, roughly 500 km north of Adelaide, the Nilpena Ediacara National Park officially opened in April 2023.

The fossil bed known as ‘Alice’s Restaurant Bed’ is the focal point of a visit and showcases multicellular animal life that lived 560 million to 542 million years ago.

As well as the impressive fossil beds, the Nilpena National Park is known to support native species such as dunnarts, quolls, snakes and lizards. The newly acquired land will facilitate conservation work to protect the endangered thick-billed grasswren and the possible re-introduction of the bilby to the region.

The Nilpena Station land has been carefully managed by its previous owners and now under NPWS management its biodiversity values will be protected in perpetuity through the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.

The land also includes a homestead, dwellings and outbuildings which will be used by NPWS staff to facilitate caring for the park and its operations.

Converting this area to public land enables the Adnyamathanha, the traditional owners, ongoing so that they can engage in traditional cultural activities.

Visitors to Nilpena Ediacara National Park can book guided tours of the Ediacaran fossil fields and the restored Blacksmith Shop where visitors are immersed in an audio-visual display that brings Earth’s earliest complex animal life back to life. Pre-booking at least a week in advance is recommended as the tours are very popular.

For more information about the Nilpena Ediacara National Park

Image. Credit: The Flinders Ranges Ediacara Foundation