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.

For over 25 years Friends of Warriparinga has 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 collect local seed and propagate new plants, remove weeds and care for the general river environment.

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

Catch the group on site most Thursdays between 10am and 1pm (Working bees are typically 10-12). Look out for their signs and high-vis jackets!

Friends of Sturt River Landcare protect and restore the Sturt River corridor, a haven for native plants, birds and animals. It is one of the only places where traces of the original River Red Gum woodlands, which once grew in that area of the Adelaide Plains, can be found.

The group formed in 2014 and adopted the Oaklands biodiversity corridor as its first project. Already its impact is enjoyed by the people, plants and animals that live in and visit the area.

The group manages large scale tree planting days, weeding and watering events, as well as grow native seedlings. Over the past few years the group played a key role in planting and caring for over 20,000 plants.

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

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.

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 the Lower Field River is a group established by Hallett Cove residents in 2006 to protect and care for the lower portion of the Field River and its environs.

This area includes Cormorant Reserve, the river's estuary at Hallett Cove Beach and nearby sand dunes.

The Friends of Upper Field River are a diverse group of local community volunteers who are rehabilitating a section of the Field River catchment (part of the Glenthorne precinct) in Trott Park.

Birds seen in area include the Spotted Pardalote and Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos.

The group take a minimal disturbance approach where possible, slowly removing weeds such as olives, ash and onion weed to make space for the local native vegetation to regenerate as well as planting local native species.

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.

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 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.