Scotia Sanctuary is a 650 square kilometre nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 in the south-western plains of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, adjacent to the border with South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. It is located in the Murray Mallee

Murray Mallee

The Murray Mallee is the grain-growing and sheep-farming area of South Australia bounded to the north and west by the Murray River, to the east by the Victorian border, and extending about 50 km south of the Mallee Highway....

 subregion of the Murray-Darling Depression Bioregion, 150 km (93.2 mi) south of the city of Broken Hill

Broken Hill, New South Wales

-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy

Australian Wildlife Conservancy

The Australian Wildlife Conservancy is an Australian independent, non-profit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia, principally through the acquisition of extensive areas of land on which to establish conservation reserves . These sanctuaries are...

 (AWC).

History

Scotia comprises two former grazing properties, Tararra and Ennisvale, which were purchased by Earth Sanctuaries Limited in 1994, and eventually acquired by AWC in 2002.

Landscape and climate

Scotia is characterised by a low-relief landscape of plains with parallel sand dunes and open calcareous

Calcareous

Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...

 swale

Swale (geographical feature)

A swale is a low tract of land, especially one that is moist or marshy. The term can refer to a natural landscape feature or a human-created one...

s. Surface water is limited by the sandy soils and there are no watercourses. The climate is one of cool winters and hot summers in an arid region, with irregular rainfall averaging an annual 250 mm (9.8 in).

Ecosystems

Scotia’s habitats include various Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

 open shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

 (mallee

Mallee (habit)

Mallee is the growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres...

) communities and sheoak woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

s, .

Fauna

The Scotia Endangered Mammal Recovery Project is a program of reintroduction of mammals that have become extinct regionally, in order to establish viable, self-sustaining populations. Species reintroduced so far include: Numbat

Numbat

The numbat , also known as the banded anteater, or walpurti, is a marsupial found in Western Australia. Its diet consists almost exclusively of termites. Once widespread across southern Australia, the range is now restricted to several small colonies and it is listed as an endangered species...

, Greater Bilby

Greater Bilby

The Bilby, Macrotis lagotis, is an Australian species of nocturnal omnivorous animal in the Peramelemorphia order. The common name Bilby usually refers to this species, but is distinguished from Macrotis leucura that became extinct in the 1950s by the name Greater Bilby. It is also referred to as...

, Burrowing Bettong, Brush-tailed Bettong, Bridled Nailtail Wallaby and Greater Stick-nest Rat

Greater Stick-Nest Rat

The Greater Stick-nest Rat, House-building Rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found only in Australia on the Franklin Islands and St Peter Island in the Nuyts Archipelago, Reevesby Island, Salutation Island, Faure Island and Heirisson Prong, and a fenced off area at Roxby Downs...

. Threatened bird species present on Scotia include Malleefowl

Malleefowl

The Malleefowl is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken...

, Regent

Regent Parrot

The Regent Parrot is a bird of the parrot family . It has predominantly yellow plumage with a green tail. The bird is found primarily in eucalyptus groves and other wooded areas of subtropical southwestern Australia, as well as to a smaller area of subtropical and temperate southeastern Australia...

 and Scarlet-chested Parrot

Scarlet-chested Parrot

The Scarlet-chested Parrot , known alternately as Scarlet-breasted parrot, Orange-throated parrot or Splendid parrot, is a parrot endemic to central South Australia and inland southern Western Australia...

s, Striated Grasswren

Striated Grasswren

The Striated Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2006. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....

 and Black-eared Miner

Black-eared Miner

The Black-eared Miner, Manorina melanotis, is an endangered honeyeater endemic to mallee woodland in south-eastern Australia. It is closely related to the much more widely distributed Yellow-throated Miner M. flavigula and the taxonomic status of the Black-eared Miner is the subject of some...

. The reserve forms part of the 12,200 km² Riverland Mallee Important Bird Area

Riverland Mallee Important Bird Area

The Riverland Mallee Important Bird Area comprises a 12,200 km2 tract of mallee habitat and riverine woodland extending from near Waikerie in the Riverland region of eastern South Australia north-eastwards into south-western New South Wales....

, identified as such by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

for its importance in the conservation of mallee birds and their habitats.