This year’s SARA Annual Migration was held in Pinnaroo in the Murraylands and Riverland Region and welcomed over 70 staff from National Parks and Wildlife Service, SA Water, ForestrySA and Landscapes SA. This was SARA’s 12th Annual Migration and was held over 4, and was filled with inspiring guest speakers, fantastic guided tours and the chance to network with our wonderful colleagues.
On day one, staff had the option of choosing from several different working bees, all of which ensured our hands got dirty! Local Ranger Ryan Hamood took one group to assist with malleefowl monitoring which is a part of the The National Malleefowl Monitoring Program and is
one of the largest single species monitoring programs in Australia. Another group headed into town to assist with cleaning up the local wetlands, something the citizens of Pinnaroo truly appreciated! Lastly we had some true legends stay back and assist in the kitchen (catering requires many hands!)
Malleefowl Monitoring Wetland cleanup
Next up for day one was the SARA AGM where we had some new Regional Representatives voted in and we welcomed Steph Cole as the new Publicity Officer. Following this was some fascinating talks by local staff on the Threatened Mallee Birds Project, the River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve (the only one in Australia and one of only 15 in the world!) and management of the apiary industry in Ngarkat Conservation Park. One of the best things about these Migrations is hearing from local staff and learning more about their region and the projects they are working on.
We capped off night one with a presentation from Tasmanian Ranger Abbey Ralph who was spending 8 weeks with our team over on the west coast as part of the new Ranger Exchange between South Australia and Tasmania. Following this was yet another fantastic auction where we raised over $5,000 to SARA and The Thin Green Line Foundation. We would like to thank everyone who donated, your ingenuity and generosity is greatly appreciated.
Our auctioneers strutting their stuff in old NPWS uniforms
With coffee in our systems we kicked off day two with field trips along the Border Track in Ngarkat Conservation Park, a tour of the local enterprises around the murraylands and a lovely hike to a local conservation park. All staff thoroughly enjoyed these trips and it was great to see what the region has to offer!
Tag-along tour on the Border Track, Ngarkat Conservation Park
Day three was one to remember, with several presentations on some fascinating topics. We heard from Simon Frankel who discussed the recent Riverland floods from a rangers perspective and highlighted the devastating losses to wildlife that can occur during these events. Next up was our friends in blue, SA Water! We heard about a highly successful ecological restoration project occurring along the shores of a reservoir. Kevin Rowley from the Investigations and Compliance team then spoke about some developments relevant to our wardens and it was great to hear about the support his team is offering to ensure our wardens are safe in the field.
A member from the State Forest team in Victoria then informed us on their park management systems and infrastructure within high visitation areas followed by the highly anticipated Dr Kylie Cairns and Dr Bradley Smith who discussed dingo genetics and behaviour, Finally were our friends in a slightly different green; Forestry SA, who provided a general update on several projects that their team are working on.
The event was finished off with a final dinner including the announcements of the photo competition winners and speeches from our Regional Director, Stuart Paul and the SARA President, Tammy Leggett.
As the Thursday blues rolled around, participants packed up their swags and travelled back to all corners of the state. Even though we were all sad for another migration to be over, we all left with smiles on our dials, feeling inspired and reinvigorated to continue working together towards protecting and conserving our beautiful parks and reserves. A huge thank you to everyone on the committee for pulling together yet another successful Annual Migration and we hope to see many of you return for the 2025 Annual Migration.
Representatives from NPWS, SA Water and ForestrySA
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