About Us

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The Department for Environment and Heritage plays a major role in conservation, protection and restoration of South Australia's natural environment, built heritage and cultural heritage. A key way in which the Department delivers these services is through its Regional Conservation directorate. There are seven regions in the State, one of which is the West Region.

The West Region

The West Region covers 30,100,000 ha of western South Australia, incorporating Eyre Peninsula and the Far West. It comprises 105 parks and reserves covering 9,570,000 ha, including Coffin Bay, Gawler Ranges and Lincoln national parks.

The natural attributes of the region include:

• significant coastal and marine environments, including numerous offshore islands
• a unique mixture of Australian plants and animals, with many plant and animal species that are at the eastern or western extent of their geographic range in Australia (see East meets West NatureLinks), and a high number of endemic species
• particular areas that have a good vegetation cover compared with the rest of the State. These large, more or less continuously vegetated areas provide unique opportunities for the conservation of biological diversity.

For information relevant to the parks and reserves in the West Region visit http://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/visitorinformation/regions/031638.

Biodiversity Conservation Programs of Eyre Peninsula and the Far West

The Department for Environment and Heritage has staff located at Port Lincoln, Coffin Bay National Park, Venus Bay Conservation Park, Ceduna, and the Gawler Ranges National Park working in the areas of nature conservation, park management, fire management and marine conservation.

We are working hard within West Region, along with many other environmental groups and the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board, to protect and manage the region's biodiversity on both public and private lands. The Biodiversity Plan for Eyre Peninsula (Summary) (1Mb PDF) is a major guide in this work.

See Biodiversity Plan for Eyre Peninsula (3.2Mb PDF)