{"id":366088,"date":"2026-04-06T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/366088\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:57:11","slug":"feral-animals-biosecurity-and-careers-on-agenda-for-sa-aboriginal-land-and-sea-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/366088\/","title":{"rendered":"Feral animals, biosecurity and careers on agenda for SA Aboriginal Land and Sea Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you bring more than 200 Aboriginal rangers together from mobs across nearly all of South Australia, you get a lot of laughter and a fair bit of good-natured teasing.<\/p>\n

But also, an invaluable shared learning experience to inspire those taking on the job of caring for Country.<\/p>\n

The first ever South Australian Aboriginal Land and Sea Ranger Conference took place in Hahndorf last month, organised jointly by the Alinytjara Wilu\u1e5fara Landscape Board and Daryle Clarke of the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation’s Yarluwar-Ruwe Rangers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The conference was held in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills but brought together rangers from across the state. (Supplied: Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Many of the young rangers have three years or more of formal recognition and experience under their belts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others are just starting out in their careers and will be joined by more newcomers following the announcement late last year that the federal government will fund another 82 ranger projects across the country.<\/p>\n

Shared challenges\u00a0<\/p>\n

Currently there are 29 Indigenous ranger groups in South Australia, and Mr Clarke said the conference was a chance for them to network, and understand their shared challenges.<\/p>\n

Kim Krebs is the general manager of the Alinytjara Wilu\u1e5fara Landscape Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The area the board covers stretches for more than 250,000 square kilometres; covering the A\u1e49angu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands, Maralinga Tjarutja, the far west coast, Yalata and “a little bit” of Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara country.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Daryle Clarke and Kim Krebs at the conference.
\n\u00a0 (ABC South East: Caroline Horn)<\/p>\n

“If you think about the Stuart Highway up the middle (of South Australia) \u2026 more or less, we’re the west of that,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Krebs said the first rangers to join the program two or three years earlier were now the ones inspiring others.<\/p>\n

“They’ve got a few years under their belts. They’ve got uniforms on. They are taller than you’ve ever seen them before \u2026 and now they’re role-modelling for others,” she said.<\/p>\n

“You can’t be what you can’t see and that’s what we’re trying to create here.”<\/p>\n

The rangers work with their communities to protect the plants and animals indigenous to their area and reduce feral or introduced species.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They also care for environmentally and culturally important sites.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes they’ll do it with a bit of funding from the federal government, some of it comes from the state government and some of it just comes from the heart,” Ms Krebs said.<\/p>\n

Up in the desert country, rangers have been part of the successful effort to bring back the warru (black-footed rock wallaby) in areas it had disappeared from.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A ranger from the A\u1e49angu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands releasing a warru (black footed rock wallaby) back onto Country. (Supplied: Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Inspiring for the future\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brendan Kartinyeri is one of those who have become role models in their communities.<\/p>\n

He’s a ranger from Meningie, south of Adelaide and has been working for four years, after completing a Certificate III in conservation and ecosystem management while still in high school.<\/p>\n

Now employed by the Ngarrindjeri Lands and Progress Aboriginal Corporation, he is following in his father’s footsteps as a cultural ranger.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Brendan Kartinyeri and Ashley Reid are Ngarrindjeri rangers working in the Coorong and surrounds. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)<\/p>\n

He feels lucky to be able to live and work around the Coorong.<\/p>\n

“There’s just something about it. It’s special,” he said.<\/p>\n

The young ranger is continuing to study and wants to keep working to help reduce the impact of European carp and other feral species.<\/p>\n

“The old uncles, they talk about how when they were younger the lake (Yarli\/Lake Albert) used to be clear,” Mr Kartinyeri said.<\/p>\n

“You could walk in, see your feet. Be up to your stomach and look down and see your feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“But I pretty much grew up with a muddy lake.”<\/p>\n

Feral impact<\/p>\n

The impact of feral animals on the environment was a big talking point at the conference, across all areas.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Jaru West, Clifford Weetra and Cameron Clarke (holding a model of a fairy tern) of the Yarluwar-Ruwe Rangers with Kerri Bartley. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)<\/p>\n

Yarluwar-Ruwe ranger Cameron Clarke has been helping to gather more information about the shore birds and their migration along the coast of the Coorong.<\/p>\n

He and the others recently worked with Birdlife Australia to try and protect the eggs of the vulnerable fairy tern from four-wheel drives on the beach but found themselves up against a familiar problem when foxes attacked 152 out of the 159 known nests.<\/p>\n

“I was really devastated by that because all the hard work we did putting up the fences around them only to find fox prints and broken shells,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But the work continues. Every little effort helps them.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Clarke said as well as shorebirds, rangers also monitor the turtles and fish of the waterways and work with Flinders University and Glenelg Nature Trust in trying to re-establish native fish species.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Rangers from the A\u1e49angu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands made the long trip to the Adelaide Hills for the conference. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)<\/p>\n

After much exchanging of knowledge and learning, the rangers returned to Country to further their work.<\/p>\n

Stepping stone<\/p>\n

Mr Clarke said as well as the the main work of rangers in fixing fences, helping tourists and surveying animals, the Indigenous ranger groups have a broader view of language and culture, and intergenerational and two-way science learning.<\/p>\n

They are encouraged to complete TAFE training and gain qualifications even if they are not sure where their careers might take them in the future.<\/p>\n

“Use it as a stepping stone,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Being a ranger might not necessarily be a career for everyone, but they can certainly use the program to build their opportunities.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you bring more than 200 Aboriginal rangers together from mobs across nearly all of South Australia, you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[192225,192220,149473,144481,273,192223,73488,141963,192224,192226,111,139,192222,69,147,192221],"class_list":{"0":"post-366088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-aboriginal-ranger","9":"tag-alinytjara-wiluara-landscape-board","10":"tag-apy-lands","11":"tag-birdlife","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-fairy-tern","14":"tag-feral-animals","15":"tag-indigenous-rangers","16":"tag-kim-krebs","17":"tag-meningie","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-ngarrindjeri","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-science","23":"tag-yankunytjatjara"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}