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.
Lake Alexandrina is a coastal freshwater lake located between the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island and Murray and Mallee regions of South Australia, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-east of Adelaide. The lake adjoins the smaller Lake Albert and a coastal lagoon called The Coorong to its southeast, before draining into the Great Australian Bight via a short, narrow opening known as Murray Mouth.
Lake Albert, also known by its Ngarrindjeri name, Yarli, is a notionally fresh water lake near the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia. It is filled by water flowing in from the larger Lake Alexandrina at its mouth near Narrung. It is separated on the south by the Narrung Peninsula from the salt-water Coorong. The only major town on the lake is Meningie. Lakes Alexandrina and Albert are together known as the Lower Lakes.
The Neptune Islands consist of two groups of islands located close to the entrance to Spencer Gulf in South Australia. They are well known as a venue for great white shark tourism.
Bool Lagoon Game Reserve is a protected area located in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, about 24 kilometres south of the town of Naracoorte.
Seal Bay Conservation Park is a protected area located on the south coast of Kangaroo Island in the Australian state of South Australia. It is the home of the third largest Australian sea lion colony in Australia.
Coorong is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia which is associated with the lagoon known as the Coorong in the south-east of the state and which overlooks the continental coastline from the mouth of the Murray River about 80 kilometres south-east of the state capital of Adelaide to the immediate north of the town of Kingston SE extending for a distance of at least 140 kilometres (87 mi).
Gum Lagoon Conservation Park is an 8765 ha protected area about 40 km south-west of Keith in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. It lies about 20 km inland from the southern end of the Coorong. It contains an isolated block of mallee woodland important for malleefowl conservation.
Pelican Lagoon Conservation Park is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia on the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island. It was dedicated in 1967 for the protection of wildlife habitat.
Pelican Lagoon is a seawater lagoon in the Australian state of South Australia located on the north coast of Kangaroo Island about 18.7 kilometres south east of Kingscote. It was named by Matthew Flinders on 4 April 1802 after the large population of pelicans present in its waters and adjoining shorelines. Its role as fishery hatchery had been identified by the early 20th century with the result that fishing in its waters has been restricted in varying degrees.
Baudin Rocks Conservation Park is a protected area occupying Baudin Rocks on the south east coast of South Australia about 8.3 kilometres North-northwest of Robe. In 1965, the island was declared as a Fauna Reserve under the Fauna Conservation Act 1964 following a request from the Kingston Branch of the National Trust of South Australia to declare ‘a reserve to afford protection to the wildlife population’. The protected area status was retained following the enactment of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 in 1972 when it was renamed as the Baudin Rocks Conservation Park.
Waldegrave Islands Conservation Park is a protected area located on the following islands within the Investigator Group in South Australia: the Waldegrave Island, Little Waldegrave Island and the Watchers.
Nuyts Reef Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia associated with Nuyts Reef, which is located off the state's west coast in the Great Australian Bight about 29 kilometres west south-west of Fowlers Bay.
Beatrice Islets are pair of islets in the Australian state of South Australia located in Nepean Bay on the north coast of Kangaroo Island about 4 kilometres east of Kingscote. The islets and adjoining intertidal areas are notable as habitat for bird life. The islet pair has enjoyed protected area status since 1909 and since at least 1972, have been part of the Beatrice Islet Conservation Park. During either the 1960s or the 1970s, the islets were extensively damaged by an exercise to remove an infestation of South African boxthorn.
Tolderol Game Reserve is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the north-western side of Lake Alexandrina in the localities of Lake Alexandrina and Tolderol about 11 kilometres south-east of Langhorne Creek.
Mud Islands Game Reserve is a protected area in South Australia covering ten islands at the southern side of Lake Alexandrina about 19 kilometres south-east of Goolwa. The game reserve is described as providing ‘an ideal habitat for water birds, particularly waterfowl’ and that ‘duck shooting is permitted during open season.’ Since 2000, the game reserve has been located within the boundaries of the gazetted locality, Coorong.
Greenly Island Conservation Park is a protected area associated with Greenly Island located off the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia about 70 kilometres west of Coffin Bay. It was declared in 1972 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 ‘to protect the island’s delicate ecology and Australian Sea-lion and New Zealand Fur-seal haul-out areas’ and continuing protected area status for the island which was first declared in 1919. The conservation park is classified as an IUCN Category Ia protected area.
Long Island Recreation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia occupying the full extent of Long Island in the Murray River immediately east of the city of Murray Bridge.
American River Aquatic Reserve was a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the north coast of Kangaroo Island in waters of the coastal lagoon known as Pelican Lagoon, in existence from 1971 to 2016. From 2012, the Pelican Lagoon Sanctuary Zone has fallen within the Encounter Marine Park. Pelican Lagoon is probably the oldest marine protected area in South Australia, having been protected since 1914.
Ramco Point Conservation Park is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia in the locality of Sunlands about 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-east of the state capital of Adelaide and about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north-west of the municipal seat of Waikerie.
