This document has been prepared ‘under the provisions of the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1972. It relates to seven conservation parks of the Lower South East Region, namely:
Belt Hill Conservation Park
Calectasia Conservation Park
Furner Conservation Park
Glen Roy Conservation Park
Gower Conservation Park
Penola Conservation Park
Reedy Creek Conservation Park
The number of South Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife reserves increased dramatically in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These reserves were dedicated for a variety of purposes including biological conservation, protection of historic relics, scenic values, recreational purposes and so forth. Today there are more than 200 National Parks and Wildlife Service reserves in South Australia and to carry out detailed surveys of all of these parks prior to providing some guidance for their management is not only a formidable task but also, frequently, an unnecessary one. This is not to say that such surveys are not of value nor that such surveys should not be undertaken in the longer term.
In order to address the dual task of both providing for optimal public input into the management of reserves and to provide immediate guidance for park managers, the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service has taken the initiative of preparing a single planning document for several reserves in a region which shares similar biological characteristics and management requirements.
The draft Management Plans for Small Parks of the Lower South East were released for public review in 1985. Nineteen submissions were received and have been considered in the preparation of these Management Plans.