Valuing Marion's Nature

We're offering a range of events and activities to help you connect with nature and learn about natural environments in the City of Marion.

Valuing Marion’s Nature is a new program fostering greater understanding and appreciation of nature in our city. It includes a range of activities such as wildlife watching, nature play for children, bike rides, guided walks, hands on workshops and more!

We have developed a series of resources to help residents to engage with nature in our city. Together, the resources highlight 100 ways you can experience nature in Marion. Hard copy versions can be collected from Marion libraries, neighbourhood centres and Council offices. Or download them below:

• 30 Ways to Connect with Nature in the City of Marion - a resource with activities and places you can connect with nature in the local area.

• 30 Ways to Nature Play in the City of Marion - a resource with ideas on places and practical ways families can spend time together in nature. It is aimed at parents of children aged 0-12 years.

• 40 Places to Experience Nature in the City of Marion - a map which will inspire you to visit, explore and engage with the key natural areas in Marion. It includes conservation and recreation parks, coast and marine areas, wetlands and rivers, parks and playgrounds, community gardens, linear trails and more.

The first year of the program revealed a very high level of interest from the community in nature-based events. This was demonstrated by the fact that almost all program events booked out quickly and had long waiting lists.

Some of the key focus areas for the program in 2018-19 were:

• Engaging families and children with nature/nature play.
• Learning about local species e.g. frogs, birds, insects.
• Promoting places to connect with nature in our city.
• Native gardening.
• Encouraging citizen’s science.
• Raising the profile of local conservation groups.

A range of events catered for different audiences, ages and interests in the community. A total of 443 people attended the following 13 program events:

• Birdwatching 101 – 19 November 2018
• Listen and Learn About Frogs at Oaklands Wetland – 20 November 2018
• Guided Birdwatching Walk – 6 April 2019
• Wild Pollinators and Native Bees Workshop at Marino Community Garden – 7 April 2019
• Family Nature Day at Warriparinga – 14 April 2019
• Four nature-based children’s Activities at Marion Neighbourhood Centres in the April school holidays
• Family Bike Ride on the Sturt River and Nature Play Afternoon – 4 May 2019
• Edible Natives and Native Gardening – 5 May 2019
• Showing Native Plants at Their Best – 18 May 2019
• Tree Hollows, Nestboxes and the Wildlife that Relies on Them – 1 June 2019

There was positive feedback on program events, with 100% of participants who completed a survey agreeing or strongly agreeing that the event they attended was informative, well planned and that they would attend another program event.