Our volunteers have been very busy across late winter and spring, helping with activities and events across our reserves, including Murbpook, Tiliqua and Watchalunga.

One such activity was a ‘come and try’ Regent Parrot surveying opportunity at Murbpook Nature Reserve, where volunteers shadowed our Science and Knowledge team members who were undertaking the activity. Some of our conservation activities, such as surveying, have particular requirements, and these ‘come and try’ opportunities offer a degree of specialised training as well as being able to see whether the type of activity is a good fit for your skills and temperament. For example, with bird surveying, participants need good attention to detail and are happy to spend hours sitting, observing and documenting the specific behaviours of different birds.

In addition to the Regent Parrot Survey support, volunteers also assisted with fence checks and repairs across Murbpook Nature Reserve, along with repairing the decking on the old cottage on the reserve so that the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board could use it for the Regent Parrot Day event for Nature Festival.

Volunteers have recently assisted with the Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard Crawl, surveys at Tiliqua Nature Reserve and another property near Burra, and a Cultural Planting Day at Watchalunga Nature Reserve. Traditional custodians and Ngarrindjeri community members Warren and Braydon welcomed the group to country and participated in planting around 200 additional local native plants on the reserve. The volunteers enjoyed connecting with Warren and Braydon, and we are grateful to Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation (NAC) for arranging their attendance.

As we head into summer, outdoor activities across our reserve network, particularly remote reserves, are reduced, so if you have been thinking about volunteering with Nature Foundation, now is a great time to register your interest and be ready to go for our 2025 season!

Receiving volunteer opportunities and updates

Nature Foundation is committed to managing its volunteers through ‘best practice’ following The Standards of Volunteer Involvement by Volunteering Australia. This means all our volunteers are registered with and coordinated through the MyImpact volunteering system, which you may be familiar with if you volunteer with other medium to large organisations.

The registration process involves several simple steps (outlined below). Once complete, you will receive details of all upcoming volunteering opportunities via email and within the MyImpact website and app.
If you have any queries about registering as a volunteer, please get in touch with our Visitor and Volunteer Engagement Coordinator, Carolyn Pickering, through the head office.
Are you considering becoming a volunteer with Nature Foundation?

Nature Foundation’s Volunteer Program offers four areas of voluntary service:

1. Conservation – science and conservation land management activities on regional reserves
2. Reserve Support – visitor support and conservation land management activities on remote reserves
3. Infrastructure – assisting with specific projects that maintain or improve existing or create new infrastructure on our reserves to support our conservation work
4. Projects – office-based science or business activities to support our conservation work

Nature Foundation volunteers are provided with a uniform, are covered by personal accident insurance when volunteering, are entitled to approved travel reimbursements, and receive regular volunteer program updates and invites to volunteer acknowledgment events. Volunteers undergo training whenever required to support successful and safe participation in programmed activities and are supported on-site by Nature Foundation staff.

Step-by-step: How to become a Nature Foundation Volunteer

Please note: Nature Foundation uses the MyImpact system to manage its volunteers.

1. Visit the Nature Foundation website: naturefoundation.org.au/volunteer scroll down and click the “Express your interest here” link.
2. In the top right-hand corner of the new page that opens, click the “Fill in an application” button. You will need to either create a new MyImpact account or log into your existing MyImpact account. Please note: an email address is required.
3. Once logged in, you will be asked to provide your contact details, why you want to volunteer with Nature Foundation and other information about yourself. This process will take about 10 minutes. You will be sent a confirmation email when you have successfully submitted your Expression of Interest. Please check your spam or junk folders if you cannot locate it in your inbox.
4. Within two business days of submitting your Expression of Interest form, you will be emailed instructions on booking a Matching Meeting. This is a 15-minute telephone conversation with our Volunteer and Visitor Engagement Coordinator to see if you match our needs and we match yours.
5. Book your meeting following the steps in the email, and you will be called at the date and time of your Matching Meeting. This call takes about 15 minutes.
6. If you are a match, you will be sent an email following the call to complete some more information in your MyImpact profile. This additional information should take around 10 minutes to complete. If you already have a Working With Children Check (WWCC from the Department of Human Services), or National Police Check (NPC) you can scan or take a photo of these on your phone to send in. If you don’t already have a WWCC or NPC, you will be sent information to help you complete these applications and process them for free as part of your application. Once submitted, the relevant organisations can take 2-4 weeks to process.
7. While you wait for your compliance activities to be completed, you can complete the Nature Foundation Induction and Code of Conduct. This e-learning is found in your MyImpact Profile. Once completed, your profile will be automatically updated with this essential qualification. The e-learning takes around 30-40 minutes to read and sign off/submit at the end.
8. Once all these activities are completed, your status in MyImpact is changed to ‘Active’ and you will be able to see all available volunteer assignment opportunities. Please note: opportunities for 2025 will be published in late January/early February.

Please note: Volunteering registrations of interest received between 20 December 2024 and 8 January 2025 will be responded to from Thursday 9 January 2025.

If you have any questions before or during this process, please contact our Visitor and Volunteer Engagement Coordinator, Carolyn Pickering, via head office.