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Local conservation groups

Get outside and connect with local heroes to protect and restore native vegetation. Play a part in the wider conservation quest to bring back native plants, animals and ‘wild’ places for people to experience for generations to come.

Volunteering with local conservation groups has lasting impacts on biodiversity and community. It’s hands-on learning, collective action, and a way to meet other people.

It’s a simple yet powerful activity, allowing you to play your part and make a difference that not only lasts but grows.

Friends of Warriparinga

For over 30 years Friends of Warriparinga have worked to protect, preserve and restore remnant (original) vegetation at the Kaurna ‘Windy Place by the River’.

A precious piece of earth, Warriparinga is home to the last remaining natural stretch of river on the entire Adelaide Plains. It is also the start of the Kaurna Tjilbruke Dreaming Trail and an early European settlement site.

Friends of Warriparinga remove weeds to allow native plants to thrive, and plant tubestock in winter to increase species diversity. Members also show care for the general river environment by removing rubbish.

The group is also making a stand to protect the unique site from urban development.

Catch the group on site most Thursdays between 10 am and 1 pm (Working bees are typically 10 am to midday). Look out for their signs and high-vis jackets.

Friends of Lower Field River

Friends of the Lower Field River is a group established by residents in 2006 to protect and care for the lower portion of the Field River and the surrounding environment at Hallett Cove.

The site contains a range of vegetation communities; a Red Gum woodland along the river, Lomandra grassland on the slopes of the valley, and Spinifex coastal sand dunes around the mouth of the river.

Recent bird surveys found over 30 species of woodland and coastal birds make use of the area.

The group meet monthly, alternating between a Saturday and Sunday morning.

Please contact the City of Marion Open Space Volunteer Coordinator for more information and working bee dates.

Friends of Sturt River Landcare

Friends of Sturt River Landcare Group formed in 2013 to protect and restore the Sturt River-Warripari corridor. They conduct regular working bees and educational activities at seven reserves along the river in both City of Marion and Holdfast Bay, including large community planting events at Oaklands Wetlands over the past decade.

The sites are predominantly Red Gum woodlands, as well as diverse wetland habitats. The group takes a diverse and inclusive approach to volunteering, welcoming many hundreds of people who may not usually get involved in conservation activities to visit City of Marion reserves.

Friends of Sturt River Landcare welcomes new volunteers and membership is open to anyone who shares their aims, from $10 per year.

Friends of Upper Field River

The Friends of Upper Field River is the newest group to form in City of Marion, with members forming in 2019.

The initial focus was to plant a diverse understorey and scattered shrubs on a barren slope south of Barton Reserve, in an area that would have traditionally been a Mallee Box open woodland. This area is now well established and hosts significant numbers of insect pollinators including the Chequered Swallowtail Butterfly.

The group has also cleared a large area of feral olives down to the edge of the Field River, both through their own working bees and via a Green Adelaide Grassroots Grant to employ contractors and engage with the Kaurna community.

The group meet monthly, on a Thursday and consecutive Saturday, from 9-11am

Please contact the City of Marion Open Space Volunteer Coordinator for more information and working bee dates.

Friends of O’Halloran Hill

Friends of O’Halloran Hill provides voluntary assistance in the on ground management of the O’Halloran Hill precinct (formerly called O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park) within the Glenthorne National Park, and in particular the clearing and control of woody weeds such as feral olive trees, wild artichokes and fennel, and re-vegetates the cleared areas with endemic native trees.

The O’Halloran Hill precinct had been cleared of its native vegetation, and for more than 90 years was used for grazing. Over the past 40 years much of the area has been revegetated.

Formed in 1999 as The Friends of O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park, Friends of O’Halloran Hill meets on Tuesday and Saturday mornings.

Friends Ohalloran Hill Recreation Park

Friends of Marino Conservation Park

For over 25 years, the Friends of Marino Conservation Park has protected remnant coastal heath vegetation and supported the natural regeneration of the remainder of the park.

The hills above Marino were once part of the lands of the Aboriginal Kaurna people, and represents the shoulders of the dreamtime ancestor, Tjilbruke, and Marino Rocks, his hands.

After European settlement, the land was used for grazing, and a deep gully was quarried for stone before being used as a domestic rubbish tip (now covered by landfill). The group cares for the park by holding regular working bees. Activities include weed control and replanting native species raised from seed sourced from the park. Their current project, the development of a Botanical Trail, will allow visitors to enjoy the local vegetation and views of the metropolitan coastline.

Friends of Hallett Cove Conservation Park

Friends of Hallett Cove Conservation Park has supported revegetation, conservation and promotion of the park since 1987.

Hallett Cove Conservation Park is an environmental refuge within suburban Adelaide, where visitors can marvel at the evidence of millions of years of sedimentation in the eroded landscape, while taking in dramatic coastal vistas. It is one of Australia’s most outstanding geological sites, containing evidence of an ice age from 280 million years ago.

The group meets every Thursday morning to conserve remnant flora, revegetate with local species and support refuge for native birds, reptiles and the occasional koala.

Friends Hallett Cove Conservation Park

Trees for Life bushcare groups

Six Trees for Life bushcare groups have adopted sites across the City of Marion to look after valuable remnants of bushland.

Sites include Hallett Headland Reserve and Glade Crescent Reserve at Hallett Cove, as well as Marine Parade Reserve at Marino.

Trees for Life offers people a number of ways to try their hand at helping out, including workshops, group activities, and adopting their own site.

Friends of Glenthorne

Friends of Glenthorne Incorporated was incorporated in 1998 with the following aims:

  • Preserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage assets of the property.
  • Assist with formulating a long term vision for the development of Glenthorne Farm and the establishment of an integrated Management Plan
  • Participate in a community awareness and public education program about the development of Glenthorne.
  • Increase community access and activities on the property.