We are very excited to share the news that the site of the Ediacara fossil beds in South Australia has now been formally protected as part of a brand new national park. The Nilpena Ediacara National Park opened last month on the western fringe of the Flinders Ranges, on Adnyamathanha country.
You may be aware that we have been visiting this site for some time as a central part of our Ikara–Ediacara Leadership experience. We have been fortunate to have had a long connection with Ross and Jane Fargher, on whose property the fossil beds were discovered in 1985.
It is difficult to overstate the significance of these fossils. Over half-a-billion years old, they represent the most extensive and diverse collection of fossils from the Ediacaran period anywhere in the world. The new park has the potential to recognised as part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
For the time being, visits to the new national park are restricted to guided tours, though we will visit ourselves in July on our next Ikara-Ediacara: Past, Present and Future Leadership Experience, on which there is just one place left.
