4 ways to volunteer in nature: South Australia

You might be retired and want­i­ng to fill your days, or sim­ply want a bet­ter week­end hob­by than scrolling on your phone, vol­un­teer­ing is a great place to start. 

There are plen­ty of ways to get involved no mat­ter your lifestyle. Whether you have plen­ty of time to spare or only a cou­ple of hours every now and then, each lit­tle bit goes a long way in help­ing our environment.

So here are our top sug­gest­ed ways to vol­un­teer in nature across the state, and how to get started.

1. Friends of Parks and Nature Inc. Vol­un­teer Groups

Join one of 150+ Friends of Parks and Nature groups ded­i­cat­ed to pro­tect­ing var­i­ous areas with­in our beau­ti­ful state. If you like the feel­ing of com­mu­ni­ty and mak­ing a dif­fer­ence in your local area, Friends of Parks and Nature could be per­fect for you. 

With over 5,000 mem­bers, con­sist­ing of all ages and back­grounds, these groups care for native plants and ani­mals, main­tain walk­ing trails, restore habi­tats and help look after parks across the state. 

Activ­i­ties include:

• Work­ing bees for weed con­trol, reveg­e­ta­tion and habi­tat restoration
• Sur­veys of native wildlife and threat­ened species
• Pro­tec­tion and main­te­nance of cul­tur­al her­itage sites

How to join

• Vis­it the Join a Group page on the Friends of Parks and Nature web­site, find your local group, and con­tact the group to get involved. 

2. Vol­un­teer Ranger Program

If you’re look­ing to build up your skillset in all things con­ser­va­tion and chal­lenge your­self a bit more, the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice Vol­un­teer Ranger Pro­gram could be for you. Not only will you help out with sup­port­ing native habi­tat and wildlife in parks, you’ll also help vis­i­tors have bet­ter expe­ri­ences through camp­ground and facil­i­ty main­te­nance. You’ll work along­side park rangers while build­ing valu­able skills and knowl­edge on native plants and ani­mals. The Vol­un­teer Ranger pro­gram is also a great stepping‑stone towards a full‑time role in envi­ron­men­tal work or becom­ing a ranger! Plus, you’ll receive a uni­form, access to train­ing cours­es and park accom­mo­da­tion when vol­un­teer­ing on mul­ti-day placements!

Activ­i­ties include:

• Vol­un­teer­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties in nation­al parks across South Australia
• Assist with park maintenance
• Con­ser­va­tion pro­grams such as pest con­trol, weed­ing or ani­mal monitoring
• Main­tain and sup­port vis­i­tor services
• Assist with guid­ed walks and inter­pret­ing the envi­ron­ment to visitors

How to join

• Vis­it the Vol­un­teer Ranger page on the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice web­site and fol­low the steps to join.

3. Camp­ground Host Program

If you are a fan of all things camp­ing and keen to learn about South Australia’s parks, the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice Camp­ground Host Pro­gram could be per­fect for you.

You’ll live onsite at a nation­al park camp­ground, wel­come vis­i­tors and share infor­ma­tion about the park, local wildlife and activ­i­ties! Plus you’ll sup­port park staff with upkeep, weed­ing and reveg­e­ta­tion. Hosts receive a uni­form and free camp­ing while vol­un­teer­ing, and com­plete place­ments over a long week­end or sev­er­al weeks depend­ing on park needs and availability. 

Activ­i­ties include:

• Vis­i­tor engagement
• Park main­te­nance, like ameni­ties clean­ing and lit­ter collection
• Con­ser­va­tion, includ­ing weed­ing and revegetation

How to join

• Vis­it the Camp­ground Host Pro­gram  page on the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice web­site and fol­low the steps to join.

4. Cit­i­zen Science

Con­tribute to research projects by col­lect­ing envi­ron­men­tal data in parks and reserves. You can take part in flo­ra and fau­na sur­veys, mon­i­tor­ing pro­grams and oth­er events organ­ised through­out the year.

To get involved in the lat­est cit­i­zen sci­ence projects, vis­it the Depart­ment for Envi­ron­ment and Water’s Cit­i­zen Sci­ence page. Here you’ll also find grant oppor­tu­ni­ties if you’re look­ing to apply for one to help get your cit­i­zen sci­ence project off the ground, as well as read about oth­er suc­cess­ful grant applicant’s projects. 

How to get involved:

Vis­it the Cit­i­zen Sci­ence page on the Depart­ment for Envi­ron­ment and Water web­site and find cur­rent cit­i­zen sci­ence projects avail­able to join in on.

Vol­un­teer­ing in parks is a great way to spend time out­doors, meet like-mind­ed peo­ple, build skills and con­tribute to pro­tect­ing South Australia’s pre­cious nat­ur­al heritage. 

Whichev­er path you choose, you’ll be join­ing a com­mu­ni­ty com­mit­ted to car­ing for nature and inspir­ing oth­ers to love our environment.

For all your vol­un­teer­ing in nature needs, vis­it the Vol­un­teer Page on the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice South Aus­tralia website. 

Park of the Month 

Through­out August, Vol­un­teer­ing in Parks is being cel­e­brat­ed as the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice Park of the Month! There are lots of vol­un­teer­ing events and activ­i­ties to get involved in, find out more.