KIMBERLEY CONSERVED

The natural assets of our deep north have been boosted by the purchase of Marion Downs Station by Perth-based Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). (See story) Together with neighbouring Mornington Station - which AWC snapped up in 2001 - this means a hefty 6,700 sq km of the central Kimberly is now under their umbrella - an area nearly three times the size of the ACT. This is easily the biggest conservation news in the region for many years. It also puts the spotlight on the remote heartland of the Kimberley plateau, an area under-represented in the regions's potpourri of parks and reserves. Rising costs - particularly fuel prices - have made many Kimberley cattle properties marginal operations. Yet it seems those who have called for World Heritage listing and a National Park of Kakadu-proportions in the region will have to be content with the intervention of private outfits like AWC. As discussed in a previous story, the era of new National Parks on a grand scale appears to be over.