Messent Conservation Park

225km SE from Adelaide CBD

Where is it?: Messent Conservation Park is c.16km NE of Salt Creek in the Upper South East.

Owner: Department for Environment and Water.

Property summary: Total area 11,583 hectares. Hundred of Messent – Sections 1 and 10; Hundred of Colebatch – Sections 1 and 65 1.

Landscape Management Region: Limestone Coast

History: Section 1, Hundred of Messent was proclaimed as Messent Wild-Life Reserve on 9 January 1964 1. With the addition of Section 1, Hundred of Colebatch on 27 April 1972 it was renamed Messent Conservation Park 2 and Section 65, Hundred of Colebatch and Section 10, Hundred of Messent were added on 6 December 1979 3.

Habitat:  There are number of varied habitats within the park.

  • Low Woodland with Pink Gum (Eucalyptus fasiculosa), Sallow Wattle (Acacia longifolia var sophorae) and Common Boobialla (Myoporum insulare). Understorey plants include Bracken (Pteridium esculentum), Creeping Boobialla (M. parvifolium) and Paper-flower (Thomasia petalocalyx)
  • Tall Open Shrubland with Ridge-fruited Mallee (E. incrassata), Narrow-leaved Red Mallee (E. leptophylla) and Sand Stringybark (E. arenacea). Understorey plants are (Hakea repullans) and Honeypots (Acrotriche serrulata)
  • Tall Open Shrubland with Coastal White Mallee (E. diversifolia) and Narrow-leaved Red Mallee. Understorey plants include Striped Hakea (Hakea vittata), Flax-leaved logania (Logania linifolia) and Myrtle Wattle (A. myrtifolia var myrtifolia)
  • Shrubland with Mallee Honey-myrtle (Melaleuca brevifolia)
  • Closed Sedgeland with Black Rapier-sedge (Lepidosperma carphoides), Variable Sword-sedge (L. laterale) and (L. brownii) / Hare Sedge (Tetraria capillaris) and Bare Twig-rush (Baumea juncea) 4.

Total Species Recorded to Date: 48 (non-passerines 18, passerines 28)

Common Species: Superb Fairywren, Galah, New Holland Honeyeater, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Australian Magpie, Silvereye, Red Wattlebird

Less Common Species: Restless Flycatcher, Brown Goshawk, Spotted Nightjar, Hooded Robin, Brown Thornbill

References:
> 1 Department for Environment and Water (2019). Protected Areas Information System Property Summary Report (15 March 2019).  Adelaide, South Australia. p. 84. 

 2 Government of South Australia (1964) Crown Lands Act, 1929-1960: Hundred of Messent—Wild-Life Reserve Dedicated. The South Australian Government Gazette. 2: 37. (9 January 1964) 

 3 Government of South Australia (1972). National Parks and Wildlife Act (No 56 of 1972). The South Australian Government Gazette.  703. (27 April 1972) 

 4 Owens, H.M., Robinson, A.C., and Lang, P.J. (1995). A Biological Survey of Messent Conservation Park South Australia in December 1994. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Adelaide, South Australia. 

Updated: 29/07/2021

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