Bon Bon Reserve South Australia |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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Nearest town or city | Roxby Downs |
Coordinates | 30°31′43″S 135°31′35″E / 30.5286°S 135.5265°ECoordinates: 30°31′43″S 135°31′35″E / 30.5286°S 135.5265°E |
Established | 2008 |
Area | 2,164.53 km2 (835.7 sq mi) |
Managing authorities | Bush Heritage Australia |
Website | Bon Bon Reserve |
Footnotes | Coordinates |
See also | Protected areas of South Australia |
Bon Bon Reserve is a 2,164-square-kilometre (836 sq mi)private protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia, west of the town of Roxby Downs in the Woomera Prohibited Area. It is owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA). It forms an important link of protected land between Yellabinna Regional Reserve and Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park.
Bon Bon Reserve was a sheep station for 150 years before being purchased by BHA in 2008 with assistance from the Australian and South Australian governments. The station ran an average of approximately 15,000 head of sheep between 1970 and 1989 with flocks exceeding 23,000 at times prior to this. The owner of Bon Bon Station, Grazier Paul Blight, sold the property to Bush Heritage Australia in 2008 for A$4 million with the state and federal governments sharing in the cost. Blight had kept stock numbers low to give the vegetation a chance to regenerate and wanted the property to continue to be managed in an environmentally sensitive manner.
The land occupying the extent of the Bon Bon reserve was gazetted by the Government of South Australia as a locality in April 2013 under the name 'Bon Bon'.
Bon Bon Reserve is characterised by arid-zone woodlands, mulga shrublands, bluebush plains and salt lakes. At the heart of the property is Lake Puckridge, a large (8 km by 4 km), ephemeral freshwater wetland that only fills, on average, every ten years, when it becomes an important site for many waders and waterbirds. The property also contains stands of Sandalwood.