South Australian Country Fire Service Promotions Unit

National Parks have been established over the past century for a variety of reasons, ranging from the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage to providing multiple use areas to ensure environmentally responsible use of natural resources (in ecotourism, pastoralism and mining for example).

South Australia has seven categories of parks.

These categories are as follows:

• National Parks (NP) - areas considered to be of national significance due to wildlife, natural features of the land or Aboriginal or European heritage;
• Conservation Parks (CP) - areas that are protected for the purpose of conserving wildlife or the natural or historic features of the land;
• Wilderness Protection Areas (WPA) - land set aside under the Wilderness Protection Act 1992 to protect natural and remote areas.
• Game Reserves (GR) - areas set aside for the conservation of wildlife and the management of game for seasonal hunting;
• Regional Reserves (RR) - areas proclaimed for the purpose of conserving wildlife or natural or historical features while allowing responsible use of the area's natural resources;
• Recreation Parks (RP) - areas managed for public recreation and enjoyment in a natural setting;
• Conservation Reserves (CR) - land currently set aside for conservation of natural and cultural features under the Crown Lands Act 1929;

Information and photos from the National Parks and Wildlife South Australia website