The conservation park was proclaimed in 1970 as a national park under the then
National Parks Act 1966 for the purpose of conserving "the environments of the Great Victoria Desert and protect wilderness values". It was not assigned a name in 1970 and was subsequently constituted as the
Unnamed Conservation Park under the
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972. It was renamed as Mamungari Conservation Park on 30 November 2006. In May 2004, following the passage of special legislation, SA Premier
Mike Rann fulfilled a pledge he had made to Maralinga leader
Archie Barton as Aboriginal Affairs Minister in 1991, by handing back title to of land to the
Maralinga Tjarutja and
Pila Nguru people, including the conservation park and the
Serpentine Lakes. This was the largest land return under
native title in South Australia since Premier
John Bannon's hand over of
Maralinga lands in 1984. ==Conservation status==