The Flinders Ranges in South Australia have been formally nominated for UNESCO World Heritage listing, recognising their extraordinary geological and cultural importance.
A final decision on the nomination is expected as early as 2027.
The proposed 58,000-hectare site preserves what scientists describe as the world’s most complete record of Earth’s earliest complex animal life, dating from around 672 to 510 million years ago.
The nomination is supported by a 368-page submission accompanied by nearly 4,000 pages of research and supporting documentation. The bid represents more than a decade of scientific and cultural work demonstrating the region’s global geological and palaeontological significance, alongside its deep and enduring importance to the Adnyamathanha people.
The Flinders Ranges is unique in that it contains a continuous geological record of early complex life spanning three critical periods in Earth’s history – the Cryogenian, Ediacaran and Cambrian. Nowhere else on the planet preserves such a complete sequence.
The region also holds the world’s most comprehensive record of Ediacaran fossils, with more than 40 species identified at Nilpena Ediacara National Park. The park has recently been expanded by 26,000 hectares.
Further strengthening the nomination, the South Australian Government, in partnership with the Australian Government and the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, has acquired 4,500 hectares from the Angorichina Pastoral Lease to add to Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park.
The expansion will help protect important habitat for native wildlife, including dunnarts, quolls, snakes and lizards, and support conservation efforts for threatened species such as the yellow-footed rock wallaby and thick-billed grasswren.
UNESCO requires World Heritage nominations to have the consent of relevant First Nations communities. In June last year, the Adnyamathanha Common Law Holders formally supported the Flinders Ranges bid.