Property Profile

Artesian Range Property Profile

Why is the Artesian Range so important?

 

After almost two years of negotiations, a remarkable world of rocky ranges and plateaux in the Kimberley will be protected by AWC. Bounded by the mighty Charnley River, the area features a maze of deep rainforest-filled gorges and a network of complex sandstone ranges, as well as towering escarpments and broad valleys filled with rich tropical woodlands. In recent decades, there has been a catastrophic decline in small mammals across northern Australia. Small mammal populations in Kakadu National Park have declined by more than 75% in the last 15 years. Against this backdrop, the Artesian Range is of vital importance to the fauna of northern Australia.

  • The Artesian Range retains its original mammal fauna: it is located in one of the few areas in Australia – perhaps the only area – where there has been no mammal extinctions since European settlement. The Artesian Range is one of our last opportunities to ensure a small part of Australia survives intact, a reminder of the diversity and abundance of wildlife as it was 200 years ago.
     
  • The Artesian Range is home to many animals found nowhere else in Australia: it is a hotspot for mammals found only in the Kimberley such as the Wyulda (Scaly-tailed Possum), the Monjon (the smallest rock-wallaby species) and the Kimberley Rock-rat. There are also endemic birds such as the Black Grasswren and the Kimberley Honeyeater, as well as endemic reptiles such as the Rough-scaled Python.
     
  • It is a vital last refuge for animals that are in decline across northern Australia: the Artesian Range is a stronghold for species which are in sharp decline elsewhere including the Golden-backed Tree-rat, the Golden Bandicoot and the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat. For these and other species, this strip of the Kimberley coast could be the difference between extinction and survival.

"This region is critical for saving some of the threatened mammals of northern Australia, as well as species like the Monjon and the Wyulda which are found nowhere else in the world."

Professor Tim Flannery

 

Artesian Range: AWC Management Area

The Artesian Range is located adjacent to the Kimberley coast, in the heart of one of Australia's most rugged and inaccessible regions. Covering 140,000 hectares, Australian Wildlife Conservancy's (AWC) Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary protects a diversity of rare mammals, birds and reptiles that are found nowhere else in Australia.