A benefit of our work is spending time in nature and the opportunity to witness interesting occurrences; and such a situation occurred in February this year for our Science & Knowledge and Reserve Management teams while they were visiting the Bullock Bridge Nature Reserve in South Australia’s southeast.
 
While the teams were inspecting the monitoring sites and remote cameras, some movement drew their attention to the ground. Upon closer inspection, they observed…

In this supporter profile, we shine the spotlight on one of our amazing vollies, Amber Marwede.

How long have you been a Nature Foundation volunteer and what inspired you to get involved?

I've been a volunteer with the Nature Foundation for just over a year now. I've always been passionate about conservation and caring for the environment, and during my studies where I recently completed a Bachelor of Marine and Wildlife Conservation Biology, I wanted to gain more hands-on experience. After talking to some family (who are also members) about wanting to get involved with an organisation, they recommend I look into the Nature Foundation which I'm so happy that I did!

From 28 August to 15 September 2025, you can write your Will for free with Safewill.

A Will is important for every Australian over the age of 18, regardless of what you own. Writing a Will ensures that your assets and possessions are distributed according to your wishes, as well as selecting who administers your estate and who will be the appointed guardian for your loved ones.

Nature Foundation has partnered with Australian company Safewill to provide a comprehensive yet straightforward, cost-effective, and secure way to write and manage your Will online. And during Free Wills Fortnight, you can write a Will for free.

The successful receipt of a Friends of Parks and Nature Grant has enabled our Reserve Management team to conduct a series of crucial native plant and weed identification and control training sessions for volunteers at Murbpook Nature Reserve earlier this month.

The sessions were facilitated by two of our Murbpook weed control contractors, Amanda and Petrina, who educated the group about the priority weed species on the reserve, how to identify between exotic and native plants, along with a range of weed control techniques and their recommended timings. Volunteers then tested their training by mapping some sample weed locations around the reserve and recording their findings in our data collection platform.

In May 2025, the SA Arid Lands (SAAL) Landscape Board arranged a survey expedition to explore areas of habitat believed suitable for the species in the Gawler Ranges region, as part of SAAL's Discovery4Recovery project, funded by the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust.

The survey brought together team members from the SAAL Landscape Board, South Australian Seed Conservation Centre, National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia, Gawler Ranges Aboriginal Corporation, Far West Coast Rangers, and Nature Foundation. Starting at Hiltaba Nature Reserve, survey leads Elisa Sparrow (SAAL) and Dan Duval (Senior Collections Officer, South Australian Seed Conservation Centre) briefed the group on the characteristics of the species, keys to identification, and habitat preferences, before embarking on a series of searches in various locations around the reserve aligned with those habitat preferences.