Arid Recovery

Arid Recovery is a 123-square-kilometre fenced conservation reserve located just north of Roxby Downs in South Australia's Far North arid zone. Established in 1997, it protects threatened arid-zone mammals through feral predator exclusion and reintroduction programs. Notable for successful returns of greater bilby, burrowing bettong, western barred bandicoot and greater stick-nest rat, the reserve offers guided educational tours showcasing arid ecosystem restoration, research facilities and nocturnal wildlife viewing in a remote desert landscape.

Visitors can expect a remote arid desert landscape within a large fenced reserve north of Roxby Downs. Access is by guided tour only, typically at sunset or after dark to view nocturnal mammals. Tours include interpretive commentary, research station and predator-proof fence viewing, and opportunities to see reintroduced species such as bilbies, bettongs and stick-nest rats in natural habitat, along with arid-zone birds, reptiles and vegetation. The experience is educational and conservation-focused with limited infrastructure.

Established in 1997 as a joint conservation initiative involving BHP, the University of Adelaide, the South Australian Department for Environment and local community, Arid Recovery was created to restore arid zone ecosystems through construction of a large feral-proof fenced reserve and reintroduction of locally extinct mammals.