Australia's largest national park has been formally proclaimed, edging out the previous title holder Kakadu by more than a million hectares.
The Munga-Thirri—Simpson Desert National Park in far northern South Australia reaches the Queensland and Northern Territory borders.
The new park is more than half the size of Tasmania, or roughly three times the size of greater Sydney.
"It is truly exciting that South Australia is now home to Australia's largest national park and ... this provides a significant boost to conservation," SA Environment Minister David Speirs said in a statement.
The Wilderness Society described the proclamation as a "grand initiative".
The Munga-Thirri—Simpson Desert National Park was created by joining together an existing Regional Reserve and Conservation Park.
There are special protections at Kallakoopah Creek, an environmentally significant waterway in the park that is now considered a wilderness zone.
One of several new parks
The state government also proclaimed a new national park in the southern Flinders Ranges, combining several existing conservation parks in the Wirrabara and Mount Remarkable area.
The Wapma Thura — Southern Flinders Ranges National Park is co-named for the Nukunu term for "snake people", recognising an important totem.
Two other conservation parks — Cleland in the Adelaide Hills and Deep Creek on the Fleurieu Peninsula — were also converted into national parks, as was the Lake Frome Regional Reserve.
"Ephemeral salt lake systems such as Lake Frome represent highly unique and little-known environments, and as such are considered to be of national significance," the government said in a statement.
Meanwhile, almost 5,000 hectares of land that was formerly a conservation park has been incorporated into the Nilpena Ediacara National Park.
