NATIONAL WILDERNESS RED INDEX

Published by the Colong Foundation for Wilderness Ltd. 30/09/94
Level 2, 332 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000.
Ph (02) 9261 2400; Fax (02) 9261 2144.

Name:

BIGHT

Nominated by:

Not recorded

Location:

Not recorded

Size
For size and tenure information contact the Colong Foundation.

DESCRIPTION

The great limestone cliffs of the Great Australian Bight make this one of the
most spectacular coastal wilderness areas in Australia. It contains part of what
is thought to be the longest unbroken line of cliffs in the world. To the north
of these cliffs lie the extensive Tertiary limestione plains of the Nullabor.
Peaks of Proterozoic granite occur towards the western boundary. A few salt
lakes are scattered across the area. [1]

Vegetation within the area includes species from the South-west and Eremean
Botanical Provinces, with a high degree of endemism. Many South-West species
reach their eastern limit here. Sand heath communities are found along the coast
in the west. Most of the area is covered by a woodland-grassland association of
mallee eucalypts and spinifex, with areas of typical Nullabor shrubland
dominated by chenopods. [2]

The area straddles a zoogeographical boundary between the South-western and
Eremean fauna. [3]

STATE FORESTS

ENDANGERED SPECIES

LAND USE HISTORY

1841
Edward Eyre traversed this wilderness areas on his epic journey of exploration. [4]

CONSERVATION HISTORY

THREATS

CONTACTS

No contacts are recorded from that area.
ENDNOTES
1
Prineas, P., Lembit, R., Fisher, N., 1986, "Australia's Wilderness An
Inventory".

2
Prineas, 1986.

3
Prineas, 1986.

4
Prineas, 1986.

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