Welcome to Kauwi-marnirla-Field River, Adelaide’s newest conservation park

Kauwi-marnir­la-Field Riv­er Con­ser­va­tion Park is a new con­ser­va­tion park in Ade­laide​’s south­ern sub­urbs on the tra­di­tion­al lands of the Kau­r­na Peo­ple. 

The Abo­rig­i­nal co-name, Kauwi-marnir­la trans­lates to place of ​​‘two good waters’ and is pronounced ​​‘Cowee-ma-rni-rla’. 

We asked Restora­tion Ecol­o­gist Angus Droogan-Tur­nis­ki about the park and the work he’s doing to shape its future. 

How long have you been a Restora­tion Ecol­o­gist and what is your back­ground in parks? 
​“I start­ed in Coorong Nation­al Park work­ing on threat­ened coastal species, which sparked my pas­sion for work­ing with Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice. In 2021 after a short time work­ing with New South Wales Nation­al Parks, I relo­cat­ed back to Ade­laide and have since man­aged a num­ber of parks across Adelaide’s south, includ­ing Glen­thorne and Onka­paringa Riv­er. In 2025, I moved into my cur­rent role as Restora­tion Ecol­o­gist for Kauwi-marnir­la, lead­ing eco­log­i­cal restora­tion projects and sup­port­ing pro­grams across the region.”

When did Kauwi-marnir­la – Field Riv­er Con­ser­va­tion Park offi­cial­ly become a park?

​“The park was pro­claimed in Novem­ber 2024 after the state gov­ern­ment acquired pri­vate­ly owned land, as well as land man­aged by the Depart­ment for Infra­struc­ture and Trans­port, with a vision pro­tect the area under the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Act. Since 2022, Green Ade­laide has led ear­ly weed con­trol and com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment. A draft man­age­ment plan is expect­ed by the end of 2025.”

What is the his­to­ry of this park? 

“The land has a deep cul­tur­al his­to­ry with the Kau­r­na Peo­ple, and was once open grassy wood­land with a spring-fed riv­er. Min­ing and farm­ing altered the land­scape in the 1800s, with rem­nants of cop­per min­ing from 1847 still vis­i­ble today, includ­ing a her­itage-list­ed chim­ney. While weeds have tak­en hold, patch­es of native grass­es and the occa­sion­al large Melaleu­ca lance­o­la­ta tells the sto­ry of what the land would have looked like.”

What is some­thing about this park that the aver­age per­son might not know?

“Most peo­ple have dri­ven past the park along the south­ern express­way with­out real­is­ing what’s inside. A unique fea­ture is the creek, which flows year-round, sup­port­ing native plants and a healthy bird pop­u­la­tion-espe­cial­ly wood­land birds, which are declin­ing across the region.”

Why is this park important?

“The park is impor­tant as it holds cul­tur­al sig­nif­i­cance to the Kau­r­na com­mu­ni­ty, who are now rein­tro­duc­ing cul­tur­al burn­ing prac­tices to sup­port land health and bio­di­ver­si­ty. It’s also a key bio­di­ver­si­ty cor­ri­dor in the Field Riv­er catch­ment and offers a rare chance to restore threat­ened eco­log­i­cal com­mu­ni­ties. The ripar­i­an plants also help to improve water qual­i­ty flow­ing to Hal­lett Cove.”

What are some of the native plants and ani­mals that inhab­it this area?

“You’ll find yel­low-tailed black cock­a­toos, pere­grine fal­cons, native fish, and a wide range of bush birds that are under-rep­re­sent­ed in the sub­urbs. The land­scape includes native grass­es, sheoaks, tea trees and some rare or endan­gered species, par­tic­u­lar­ly near the watercourse.”

What are some of the com­mon pests and weeds found in the area?

“Olive trees are the dom­i­nant weed we’re tack­ling. We’re work­ing with Green­ing Aus­tralia, and oth­ers, to remove pri­or­i­ty weeds, espe­cial­ly along the ripar­i­an zone.”

What is your vision for the park?

“We want to pro­tect and enhance bio­di­ver­si­ty, sup­port Kau­r­na cul­tur­al fire prac­tices, and cre­ate a resilient land­scape that bal­ances con­ser­va­tion with the park’s urban sur­round­ings. While we can’t remove all threats, col­lab­o­ra­tion will help us build a stronger, health­i­er environment.”

Vol­un­teer­ing Opportunities

What is the impor­tance of vol­un­teers in your vision of the park?

“Vol­un­teers are vital for long-term care of the park. While grants can fund ear­ly weed removal, ongo­ing main­te­nance and com­mu­ni­ty advo­ca­cy will rely on a ded­i­cat­ed Friends of Parks group. Vol­un­teers also help spread aware­ness and build com­mu­ni­ty con­nec­tion to the park.”

How can vol­un­teers help?

“We’re cur­rent­ly invit­ing peo­ple to get involved, with the aim of form­ing a Friends of Parks and Nature Inc. group. Vol­un­teers can help with plant­i­ng, weed con­trol, track main­te­nance, rub­bish removal, sci­en­tif­ic mon­i­tor­ing, her­itage care, and com­mu­ni­ty education.” 

Inter­est­ed in vol­un­teer­ing in the park? Get in touch with Angus.

Open Day & Vol­un­teer­ing Event — Tues­day 26 August 2025

Park of the Month 

Through­out August, we’re cel­e­brat­ing Vol­un­teer­ing in Parks as part of Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice Park of the Month! There are lots of vol­un­teer­ing events and activ­i­ties to get involved in, find out more.