Editing Naracoorte Caves National Park (section)

==History ==
===European discovery===
The caves, which are located within the boundaries of what is now the national park, were first encountered in 1845 with the discovery of [[Blanche Cave]].<ref name=mp>{{Citation | publisher=South East Region, National Parks and Wildlife SA, Department for Environment and Heritage | title=Naracoorte Caves National Park management plan, South East, South Australia | date=2001 | url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/public/park_management/parks_pdfs_naracoorte_mp.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226092328/http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/public/park_management/parks_pdfs_naracoorte_mp.pdf |archive-date=2018-02-26 |url-status=live |page=15| isbn=978-0-7308-5846-1 }}</ref>

===Naracoorte Forest Reserve===
In 1885, the [[Department of Woods and Forests (South Australia)|Department of Woods and Forests]] appointed a caretaker due to "the popularity of the caves and their vulnerability to vandalism".<ref name=mp/>

=== First fossil collection ===
The first recorded collection of Pleistocene megafaunal fossils from the caves was a 1908 collection reported by William Reddan from Specimen Cave. This collection was carried out largely without regard for the stratigraphic context of the fossils, limiting the collection's scientific utility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turner |first=Nerita K. |last2=Reed |first2=Elizabeth H. |date=2 January 2023 |title=Using historical research to constrain the provenance and age of the first recorded collection of extinct Pleistocene large mammal fossils from the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03721426.2023.2188442 |journal=[[Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia]] |language=en |volume=147 |issue=1 |pages=143–159 |doi=10.1080/03721426.2023.2188442 |issn=0372-1426 |access-date=2 June 2024 |via=Taylor and Francis Online}}</ref>

===National Pleasure Resort===
In 1916, the control of the portion of the forest reserve which contained many of the caves and which consisted of about {{convert| 50 |acre|ha|order=flip}} of land was transferred from the Department of Woods and Forests to the Immigration, Publicity and Tourist Bureau who would manage it as a national pleasure resort under the ''National Pleasure Resort Act 1914'' until 1972. The change of control was gazetted on 1 March 1917.<ref name="SAGG-1917">{{cite web|last1=STYLES|first1=A. W.|title=GRANT OF NARACOORTE CAVES AS A PUBLIC PLEASURE RESORT, &c|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1917/11/368.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823111222/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1917/11/368.pdf |archive-date=2021-08-23 |url-status=live|website=The South Australian Government Gazette|publisher=South Australian Government|access-date=30 March 2018|page=368|date=1 March 1917}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79773016 |title=THE NARRACOORTE CAVES. |newspaper=[[The Border Watch]] |volume=LV |issue=5463 |location=South Australia |date=22 July 1916 |access-date=26 February 2018 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name=NPWact/> The national pleasure resort's development into "an important regional tourist destination was greatly assisted by the discovery in 1969 in Victoria Cave of the largest known Australian Pleistocene vertebrate fossil cave deposit".<ref name=mp/>

===Conservation Park===
On 27 April 1972, it was renamed as the '' Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park'' upon the proclamation of the ''[[National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972]]'' which repealed the former act along with other statutes concerned with [[conservation (ethic)|conservation]].<ref name=NPWact/> In 1982, the conservation park was listed on the now-defunct [[Register of the National Estate]].<ref name=NRE>{{cite AHD|8013|Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park}}</ref>

===World heritage listing===
On 17 December 1994, part of the conservation park, being an area of {{convert|300|ha}} was "inscribed on the World Heritage List" along with the [[Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh)|Riversleigh fossil site]] in Queensland as the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte).<ref name=AHD-WHL>{{cite AHD|105089|Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte), Naracoorte, SA, Australia}}</ref>

===National Park===
On 18 January 2001, the Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park was abolished and the land that it occupied was reconstituted as a national park because it was considered to be "of national significance by reason of the natural features of the land" and was assigned the name, Naracoorte Caves National Park.<ref name="SAGG-2001"/>

===National heritage listing===
On 21 May 2007 The Australian Fossil Mammal Sites was one of 15 World Heritage places to be added to the [[Australian National Heritage List]].<ref name="AHD">{{cite AHD|105692|Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Naracoorte), Naracoorte, SA, Australia |date=21 May 2007|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>

===State heritage listing===
On 17 May 2017, the extent of the national park was listed as a state heritage place on the [[South Australian Heritage Register]] with the name of the ''Naracoorte Caves Complex''.<ref name="SAHR">{{cite web|title=Naracoorte Caves Complex (designated place of geological, palaeontological and speleological significance)|url=http://maps.sa.gov.au/heritagesearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=27695|website=Heritage Places Database|publisher=South Australian Government|access-date=26 February 2018|date=17 May 2017}}</ref>