Nature Foundation

The team have been busy organising our events for the remainder of the year 📅 We hope to see you at one of them! All the details can be found on our website, link in comments.

// Saturday, 26 September -Nature Festival Event: KIDS+BIG KIDS Art Sessions with The Beach Studio
// Sunday, 27 September - Nature Festival Event: 7x7 SEED Talks
// Friday, 2 October - Nature's Foundations 5 Opening Night
// Saturday, 3 October - Nature Festival Event: Birds & Bingo - Strathalbyn
// Saturday, 10 October - Nature Festival Event: Birds & Bingo - Thebarton (only a few tickets left)
// Thursday, 15 October - Webinar: Kangaroo Island’s Feral Cat Eradication Program with Paul Jennings
// and more!

⏰ There's still some time to write your Will for free during Safewill's Free Wills Fortnight.

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.

Learn more and get started here: safewill.com/naturefoundation

See the artwork created in response to art residencies at Hiltaba and Witchelina Nature Reserves at the Nature's Foundations 5 exhibition, at Light Square Gallery, TAFE SA, Adelaide, Friday 2 – 23 October 2026.

Registrations required for launch event, 6-8pm, Friday 2 October.

See full details and registration here: https://www.naturefestival.org.au/event/natures-foundations-5

📸 Emma Neill painting en plein air at Hiltaba Nature Reserve.

// Nature Festival
// Nature's Foundations 5 Opening Night

Kick off the first weekend of Nature Festival with this fast-paced look at the festival's theme of "seed" from multiple perspectives, as our 7 speakers each take 7 minutes to present their interpretation.

Hosted by the engaging Jo Laverty from ABC Radio Adelaide, we hope you can join us at the Art Gallery of South Australia for what is bound to be an entertaining afternoon.

Grab your tickets soon! 🎟️→ naturefestival.org.au/event/7x7-seed-talks

Nature Foundation are delighted to present this event in partnership with Nature Festival, and we hope you can join us.

// Trees For Life (SA)
// Nature Play SA
// Adelaide Botanic Garden

It's National Bilby Day!
The Greater Bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a native Australian rabbit-sized bandicoot with long silky grey fur and white underparts. Its black tail is long and crested with a white tip, and it has long pink ears and a long pointy snout.

Bilbies were once widespread across semi-arid and arid Australia, but are now reduced to scattered populations in arid parts. They are listed as Vulnerable nationally and in most states, including South Australia, Endangered in QLD and Extinct in NSW. Their conservation status is primarily due to habitat loss, predation by invasive species such as foxes and cats, and competition from increased herbivore numbers.

Solitary animals, during the day, bilbies shelter in long, deep burrows that they dig. At night, they venture out to feed. They are omnivorous, feeding on arthropods (invertebrates with jointed legs, such as beetles and spiders), tubers, plant seeds and fungi.

The appropriately named Jack Bilby is a two-time Nature Foundation Grand Start PhD research grant recipient who is investigating the impacts of climate warming and extreme heat on dryland mammals. By directly comparing how threatened bilbies and invasive rabbits respond to extreme temperatures in a shared landscape, he hopes to better inform native species conservation and invasive species management opportunities in a warming world.

Research and conservation activities play an important role in protecting and preserving unique native species such as bilbies. Thank you for supporting these efforts!

📸 Greater Bilby (Macrotis lagotis) by Jack Bilby

Applications close 5pm ACST Monday 14 September 2026. There are a few days remaining for impacted landholders, volunteer groups and other organisations working in affected areas, and Honours students undertaking bushfire-related research to submit a Wildlife Recovery Fund grant application.

Funding is available for projects that can contribute to the recovery and resilience of fire-affected areas, such as fence repair, w**d control, habitat restoration, erosion control, feral/pest animal control, research and monitoring.

Full details including grant guidelines and the online application form can be found on our website. https://www.naturefoundation.org.au/get-involved/wildlife-recovery-fund-grants

Please get in touch ASAP if you have any queries.

Ready for a morning of nature and art? Join us at KIDS+BIG KIDS Art Sessions with The Beach Studio on Saturday, 26 September!

Blending well with this year’s Nature Festival theme of ‘SEED’, this hands-on, no-pressure art session will step you through the process of creating your own seed-themed watercolour artwork, and the opportunity to learn more about Nature Foundation’s conservation work, and the important role of seed in habitat revegetation and restoration.

This is a great opportunity to connect with family and friends, nature and your inner artist—we all have one! Julia’s relaxed and step-by-step approach will ensure that everyone—young and old—will finish the session with an A3 watercolour painting you can be proud of.

With limited places available, we encourage you to book now 👉 https://www.naturefestival.org.au/event/kids-big-kids-art-sessions

This Father's Day we're recognising doting Malleefowl dads!
Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) are large, ground-dwelling birds found in the semi-arid mallee scrublands of southern Australia. They are classed as Vulnerable nationally and at the South Australian state level, with populations declining due to habitat loss and predation. Rather than sitting on a nest of eggs, Malleefowl pairs build huge nest mounds from leaf litter and sandy soil, which can be up to 5 metres wide and 1 metre high. The decomposing vegetation in the nest generates heat to incubate the eggs, and the nest must be kept at a precise internal temperature of 33°C throughout the breeding season.

The Malleefowl dad spends up to nine months a year managing the mound, adjusting nesting material to regulate the temperature and using his bill as a thermometer to check its temperature! It's considered to be one of the most sophisticated thermal regulation behaviours known in any bird.

Incubation takes 50-100 days, and when chicks hatch, they must dig their way to the surface. They receive no parental care once they emerge and are forced to be independent, beginning to fly within a day of hatching.

Nature Foundation are proud to have Malleefowl present on a couple of our nature reserves. Because of their ground-dwelling and nesting behaviour, they are sadly quite vulnerable to predation by cats and foxes, so feral predator management is a key strategy for supporting them. We are delighted to have recently received a grant from Birds SA - Australia to implement a Malleefowl monitoring program at Bullock Bridge, which will allow us to commence specific surveys of this special species, giving us a better understanding of resident populations and improving its management and protection.

Happy Father’s Day to ALL species!

Photo credit: Lareen Newman