Trans-Australia Eco-Link
Trans-Australia Eco-Link
Stretching 3,500 kilometres from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory to Port Augusta in South Australia, the Trans-Australia Eco-link (TAEL) connects the Territory Eco-link with the Arid Lands and Flinders-Olary NatureLink corridors.
The world's first transcontinental wildlife corridor aims to establish a continental-scale corridor of connected landscapes through building ecosystem and socio-economic resilience. The TAEL is supported by the South Australian and Northern Territory governments, with each contributing $1.8 million until 2013-14.
Environment
The dominant features of the South Australia section of this immense landscape are the vast, gently undulating gibber and gypsum plains that give the Stony Plains region its name. Unique features of the landscape include the Breakaways and stony hills, Great Artesian Basin Springs, inland lakes on the western and southern margins of the Lake Eyre Basin and extensive drainage systems.
From the top of South Australia, the TAEL extends across the Northern Territory from the central ranges and Great Sandy Desert to the tropical savannahs of the Top End.
Land use
Pastoralism – encompassing a range of land managers including NGOs, mining, family-owned, large corporate and Aboriginal communities – is the region's main activity, with sheep south of the Dog Fence and beef cattle throughout the north. Mining exploration has significantly increased over the last decade with new mining ventures, such as the mine at Prominent Hill.
Conservation activities cover around 20% of the land, with the Painted Desert, Breakaways, Great Artesian Basin Springs, Witjira and Lake Eyre National Park attracting nature-based tourism. The internationally famous Oodnadatta, Strzelecki and Birdsville Tracks provide the basis for much of the cultural tourism within the region.