How to become a volunteer ranger in South Australia’s national parks

If you have a pas­sion for the envi­ron­ment, are 18 years old or over, and can spare a min­i­mum of 75 hours a year (which is the equiv­a­lent of 10 work­ing days), then South Australia’s vol­un­teer ranger pro­gram might be the thing for you. 

As a vol­un­teer ranger, you can make a dif­fer­ence by con­nect­ing peo­ple with SA’s nation­al parks and, in turn, help them care for our environment. 

Vol­un­teer rangers will play a key role in run­ning activ­i­ties in the state’s parks, like guid­ed walks to help vis­i­tors enjoy our nat­ur­al won­ders, as well as get involved in park main­te­nance and con­ser­va­tion programs.

You might be think­ing, ​‘yeah, that’s nice, the envi­ron­ment is cool, but why would I want to give up my time?’ Well here’s five rea­sons to apply to be a vol­un­teer ranger in SA: 

1. Reap the ben­e­fits of being outdoors

There’s lots of research that shows that spend­ing time in nature is good for us. 

Being out­side is a mood-boost­er, it helps your brain to func­tion bet­ter and pro­vides reju­ve­nat­ing fresh air to your lungs. 

2. Build your skills

Being a vol­un­teer ranger means you’ll learn lots of new skills and knowl­edge to give you the con­fi­dence to speak with park vis­i­tors and sup­port nature con­ser­va­tion across SA’s parks. 

You’ll be giv­en the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn about the native plants and ani­mals that live in the state’s parks, as well as tricks of the trade to sup­port nature conservation. 

You’ll also be giv­en the chance to share your learn­ings, as well as build your pub­lic speak­ing skills by lead­ing guid­ed tours of parks. 

3. Net­work with like-mind­ed people

Vol­un­teer­ing is one of the best ways to meet peo­ple with sim­i­lar inter­est and make some life-long friends! 

Not only will you gain knowl­edge and skills through train­ing, but also by work­ing with oth­er like-mind­ed people. 

4. Gain valu­able experience

Being a vol­un­teer ranger is a valu­able step­ping-stone to pur­sue a career in the envi­ron­men­tal sec­tor, as well as oth­er professions. 

It’s your chance to get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes man­age­ment of our nation­al parks, meet expe­ri­enced park rangers and oth­er envi­ron­men­tal experts, gain valu­able expe­ri­ence and boost your knowl­edge about our parks. 

5. For the greater good

As a vol­un­teer ranger, part of your role is to help vis­i­tors con­nect with the park. But it’s also big­ger than that. 

By con­nect­ing peo­ple with parks you can also help them bet­ter under­stand the impor­tance of nature, which, in turn, encour­ages them to care for the environment. 

Ulti­mate­ly, this will help cre­ate a more envi­ron­men­tal­ly con­scious society. 

Apply to be a vol­un­teer ranger

Vol­un­teer rangers are cur­rent­ly being sought in the Far West, River­land and Mur­ray­lands, South­ern Yorke Penin­su­la, Mid North, Kan­ga­roo Island, and Flinders and Out­back areas.

Vol­un­teer rangers will sup­port the won­der­ful work already being done by exist­ing park vol­un­teers and park rangers.

For more infor­ma­tion and to apply to be a vol­un­teer ranger vis­it the web­site.

Won­der­ing how else you can get involved and care for the envi­ron­ment? Check out our sto­ries about oth­ervol­un­teer­ing oppor­tu­ni­tiesandcamp­ground host­ing.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in July 2019 and has been refreshed with infor­ma­tion on the lat­est intake of vol­un­teer rangers.