Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 separate protected areas declared under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, the Crown Land Management Act 2009 and the Wilderness Protection Act 1992 which have a total land area of 211,387.48 km2 (81,617.16 sq mi) or 21.5% of the state's area.
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and Eyre Peninsula in the west to Cape Spencer and Yorke Peninsula in the east.
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal flat ecosystems are as extensive globally as mangroves, covering at least 127,921 km2 (49,391 sq mi) of the Earth's surface. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries; they are also seen in freshwater lakes and salty lakes alike, wherein many rivers and creeks end. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and aquatic animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily.
Western Port, commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it is dominated by two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. At the time it was renamed, its position was west of other known ports and bays, but Western Port has become something of a misnomer as it lies just to the east of the larger Port Phillip and the city of Melbourne. It is visited by Australian fur seals, whales and dolphins, as well as many migratory waders and seabirds. It is listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international significance.
The Sundarbans National Park is a national park, tiger reserve and biosphere reserve in West Bengal, India. It is part of the Sundarbans on the Ganges Delta and adjacent to the Sundarban Reserve Forest in Bangladesh. It is located to south-west of the Bangladesh. The delta is densely covered by mangrove forests, and is one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger. It is also home to a variety of bird, reptile and invertebrate species, including the salt-water crocodile. The present Sundarban National Park was declared as the core area of Sundarban Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1977. On 4 May 1984 it was declared a national park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1987, and it has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2019. It is considered as a World Network of Biosphere Reserve from 1989.
The Port River is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European settlement of South Australia in 1836, when Colonel Light selected the site to use as a port. Before colonisation, the Port River region and the estuary area were known as Yerta Bulti by the Kaurna people, and used extensively as a source of food and plant materials to fashion artefacts used in daily life.
Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after HMS Roebuck, the ship captained by William Dampier when he explored the coast of north-western Australia in 1699. The Broome Bird Observatory lies on the northern coast of the bay.
Dry Creek is a mostly industrial suburb north of Adelaide, containing significant wetlands. A substantial area was devoted to salt crystallisation pans until 2014, with plans to redevelop the site for housing.
Broad Sound is a large bay on the east coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland, 675 kilometers northwest of the state capital, Brisbane. It is about 50 kilometers long and 20 kilometers across at its widest point. The Torilla Peninsula forms the eastern side of the bay; Shoalwater Bay is on the other side of the peninsula. The sound has a large tidal range of about 10 metres (33 ft). This is the largest variance on the eastern Australia coastline.
St Kilda is a coastal suburb in Adelaide, South Australia. Its seafront faces the Barker Inlet, which is part of the Port River estuarine area, the largest tidal estuary of Gulf St Vincent, and includes a large area of mangroves. St Kilda is an internationally recognised bird watching area with over 100 species of birds feeding in and around the mudflats, salt lagoons, mangroves and seagrass beds, which are part of the estuarine ecosystem.
Torrens Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area in the Port River Estuary about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northwest of the Adelaide city centre. Since European settlement of Adelaide in 1836, it has been used for a number of purposes.
The Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area comprises land extending along the coast of Gulf St Vincent, north of Adelaide, South Australia.
Torrens Island Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on Torrens Island in the Adelaide metropolitan area about 17 kilometres north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide and about 3.9 kilometres north-northeast of Port Adelaide.
The Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park—Winaityinaityi Pangkara is a protected area in South Australia established by the South Australian government on the northeast coast of Gulf St Vincent, between Parham in the north and the southern end of Barker Inlet in the south, for the purpose of rehabilitating land used as salt pans, protecting habitat for international migratory shorebirds, managing water quality in adjoining parts of Gulf St Vincent, creation of "green" space, development of niche tourism and creation of opportunities for Indigenous people.
Garden Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north-west of the capital city of Adelaide in an estuary system within the Adelaide metropolitan area which drains into Gulf St Vincent. It is notable as being a site for a mangrove forest, a landfill, a part of the site for the Multifunction Polis, a ship graveyard and a venue for recreational boating activities. It has enjoyed varying degrees of protected area status since 1973.
Barker Inlet – St Kilda Aquatic Reserve is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in waters adjoining the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in Barker Inlet about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of the state capital of Adelaide.
St Kilda – Chapman Creek Aquatic Reserve is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in waters on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent adjoining the suburbs of Buckland Park and St Kilda about 24.8 kilometres (15.4 mi) north of the state capital of Adelaide.
Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary (ADS) is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in and adjoining the north-western part of Adelaide, covering the estuary of the Port River around Port Adelaide and northwards past St Kilda. It was established in 2005 for the protection of a resident population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.
The St Kilda saltfields brine spill is an ongoing environmental disaster occurring in St Kilda, South Australia. Former salt production ponds are leaking brine into adjacent wetlands causing death and distress to mangroves, the salt marsh and intertidal ecological communities of Barker Inlet.
