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Kangaroo Island's reputation as one of Australia's top ecotourism sites depends on the ecological research done there. That research will receive a huge boost from Adelaide University's announcement on World Environment Day (June 5) of a plan to create a new field research centre in the heart of the island's most important national park.
Wildlife research has taken place on Kangaroo Island in South Australia since the turn of the century, when enlightened conservationists proposed that its uncleared western end should be set aside as a refuge for species that might become extinct on the mainland.
They secured Flinders Chase as a reserve, and introduced a wide range of fauna, including Koalas, Platypus and Cape Barren Geese. The animals thrived, and the Chase is now the largest intact piece of coastal woodland, mallee and heath vegetation remaining in South Australia, and a key biological reference area.
It is also the site of the Rocky River Field Research Centre, where studies have included research on the Western Grey Kangaroo, Tammar Wallaby, Short-beaked Echidna, Platypus, Koala, New Zealand Fur Seal, Australian Sea Lion, Rosenberg's Goanna, Cape Barren Goose, Southern Stone Curlew and more.
The centre was established 40 years ago, but time has run out for the old buildings. 90,000 tourists now visit the park annually. The number grows each year and, to accommodate them, the Rocky River precinct is being redeveloped. That means demolishing the old centre.
Adelaide University has announced plans to build a new field research station. Called the Flinders-Baudin Research and Education Centre, it will be a major project in Encounter 2002, the celebration in two years' time of the bicentenary of the meeting of Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin at Encounter Bay.
"Both captains led scientific expeditions. Both made huge contributions to Australian natural history, and both charted the coasts of Kangaroo Island, which Flinders named," said Dr David Paton, the director of the project. "Kangaroo Island still offers scientists exceptional opportunities for field studies, and if proposals to list the island as a Biosphere Reserve come to fruition, then the Chase and the Centre will be key components," he said.
The Centre is planned to accommodate 32, with a field laboratory, lecture room, and display room among its facilities. The University is working closely with National Parks and Wildlife SA, who are partners in the design, construction and management of the Centre.
National Parks and Wildlife SA are upgrading access roads, reticulated services and other infrastructure. The Centre will be closely integrated with the new visitors' centre being built there, and it will cater for university and school students as well as volunteers and community groups.
Dr Rob Morrison
Media unit, Adelaide University
618-8303-3490
rob.morrison@adelaide.edu.au
4 photos available at: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/PR/media_photos/