A national park, home to a collection of internationally significant fossils including some dating back 550 million years, has been opened in South Australia’s mid-north.

The Nilpena Ediacara National Park is located 500 kilometres north of Adelaide, near Parachilna.

It is home to the world’s most comprehensive record of Ediacara fossils and the first multi-cellular creatures that ate, moved and sexually reproduced.

It takes in the Ediacara Hills and 60,000 hectares of the former Nilpena Pastoral lease which holds an important place in the state’s pastoral heritage and is also culturally significant to the Adnyamathanha people with traditional ceremonial sites and meeting places.

Environment Minister Susan Close said to think the area was once a shallow seabed that gave rise to the first evidence of animal life was truly amazing.

“This is a journey 550 million years in the making, a region that has attracted significant international attention,” she said.

“This is not only a place of amazement but a place of learning.”

The park is considered important to SA’s current bid to secure World Heritage listing for areas of the Flinders Ranges.

It was delivered by the state government with funding support from the federal government and the Flinders Ranges Ediacara Foundation.

To preserve the integrity of the fossils in the area, access will be limited to pre-booked guided tours.

-AAP