Alice Springs Desert Park
Encyclopedia
The Alice Springs Desert Park is an environmental education
facility in Alice Springs
in the Northern Territory
of Australia
.
It is sited on 1300 hectares (3,212 acre), with a core area of 52 hectares (128 acre). It is an institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International
(BGCI).
The park contains native animals and plants representative of central Australian desert
environments, and contributes to their conservation
through research programs as well as through public education. It offers people the opportunity to experience the variety of the deserts of central Australia, exploring the inter-relationships between the plants, animals and people.
The area is culturally important to the local Arrernte people
. Much of the work of the park is under the auspices of their apmereke-artweye (decision-makers) and kwertengerle (caretakers) - people once known as the park's traditional owners.
Desert Rivers
In this habitat, visitors walk through dry river beds, and areas that have been flooded, and past swamps and water holes. The plants here include river red gums, coolibah trees, aquatic plants, and reeds. Animals in this habitat include finches, cockatoos, water birds, frogs, and fish. Demonstrations here show how the aboriginal people use this habitat to harvest food and medicine.
Sand Country
This exhibit is a re-creation of the sandy desert including clay, gypsum, and salt pans.
Nocturnal house
The Nocturnal House is located between the Sand Country and Woodland habitats, and is home to many Central Australian reptiles, invertebrates, birds, and mammals that are active during the night. The collection includes some reptiles that may be active during the day but difficult to find in the desert.
Woodland
The Woodland habitat includes enclosures for kangaroo
s and emu
s. Visitors can walk among the kangaroos in their exhibit area.
Nature Theatre
Presentations at the Nature Theatre show visitors some of the animals that might be seen while walking through the park, including demonstrations with free-flying birds of prey.
Aboriginal Survival
Presentations at the park, include information on Aboriginal Survival one focusing on water gathering and another on food gathering. The food gathering presentation is particularly focused on the Arrernte People and includes information on sex roles, with the distinct jobs of men and women. Information on kinship focuses on Arrernte Skin names and the rules for relations ships built around the skin name groupings.
Environmental education
Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to...
facility in Alice Springs
Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...
in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
It is sited on 1300 hectares (3,212 acre), with a core area of 52 hectares (128 acre). It is an institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International
Botanic Gardens Conservation International
Botanic Gardens Conservation International is a plant conservation charity based in London, England. It is a membership organisation, working with 800 botanic gardens in 118 countries, whose combined work forms the world's largest plant conservation network.Founded in 1987, BGCI is a registered...
(BGCI).
The park contains native animals and plants representative of central Australian desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
environments, and contributes to their conservation
Conservation ethic
Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to...
through research programs as well as through public education. It offers people the opportunity to experience the variety of the deserts of central Australia, exploring the inter-relationships between the plants, animals and people.
The area is culturally important to the local Arrernte people
Arrernte people
The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...
. Much of the work of the park is under the auspices of their apmereke-artweye (decision-makers) and kwertengerle (caretakers) - people once known as the park's traditional owners.
Exhibits and facilities
The park contains three separate walk-through desert habitat areas accessed through a 1.6 kilometre (0.994196378639691 mi) trail: Desert Rivers, Sand Country, and Woodland. In addition, it has a Nocturnal House and a Nature theatre. The entrance area includes an exhibition center, rest rooms, and cafe.Desert Rivers
In this habitat, visitors walk through dry river beds, and areas that have been flooded, and past swamps and water holes. The plants here include river red gums, coolibah trees, aquatic plants, and reeds. Animals in this habitat include finches, cockatoos, water birds, frogs, and fish. Demonstrations here show how the aboriginal people use this habitat to harvest food and medicine.
Sand Country
This exhibit is a re-creation of the sandy desert including clay, gypsum, and salt pans.
Nocturnal house
The Nocturnal House is located between the Sand Country and Woodland habitats, and is home to many Central Australian reptiles, invertebrates, birds, and mammals that are active during the night. The collection includes some reptiles that may be active during the day but difficult to find in the desert.
Woodland
The Woodland habitat includes enclosures for kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s and emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
s. Visitors can walk among the kangaroos in their exhibit area.
Nature Theatre
Presentations at the Nature Theatre show visitors some of the animals that might be seen while walking through the park, including demonstrations with free-flying birds of prey.
Aboriginal Survival
Presentations at the park, include information on Aboriginal Survival one focusing on water gathering and another on food gathering. The food gathering presentation is particularly focused on the Arrernte People and includes information on sex roles, with the distinct jobs of men and women. Information on kinship focuses on Arrernte Skin names and the rules for relations ships built around the skin name groupings.