Simplify the following text for a Grade 12 native English-speaking person.
Original: Pastoral leases in the Kakadu area were progressively abandoned from 1889 , because the Victoria River and the Barkly Tablelands proved to be better pastoral regions .
Simplified: Pastoral leases in the Kakadu area were progressively given up from 1889 , because the Victoria River and the Barkly Tablelands were better pastoral regions .