Reference Group

Role

The Waite Conservation Reference Group was established in October 2002 to develop a dynamic Action Plan to guide all activities in the Reserve, and to monitor the implementation of the plan. Members were chosen on the basis of their expertise, and their familiarity with and commitment to the Reserve.

Meet the Reference Group

Peter Bird, President of Friends of Waite Conservation Reserve
I confess to being a life-long natural history junkie, especially interested in native mammals, reptiles, birds and plants. I have a degree in ecology and am employed by Dept Water Land & Biodiversity Conservation at Waite Campus where I work on the biology and control of vertebrate pests including rabbits, foxes, dingoes, deer and pigs. In my spare time I am a volunteer leader with the Nature Conservation Society’s Walks with Nature program which takes people on free interpretive walks through Mt Lofty Ranges parks and reserves. I also collect local seed and grow plants to revegetate the family farm, which like the Waite Reserve, is dominated by grey box woodland.

Dr Jennifer Gardner, former Manager of the Waite Conservation Reserve
My involvement in the area began in 1990 when, with the support of the then Director of the Waite Institute, Prof. Harold Woolhouse, a committee of interested Waite Campus staff formed to develop a walking trail through the Waite hills land. In 1992, I was an inaugural member of the Waite Hills Management Committee, chaired by the Director and formed to advise him on restoration of the bushland following the removal of sheep and the declaration that henceforth the Waite hills land was to be a Reserve. As former Manager of the Waite Conservation Reserve, I relied heavily on the advice provided by my invaluable Reference Group. The support and enthusiasm of the Friends of the Waite Reserve was also greatly appreciated.

Dr Peter Lang, Senior Botanist, State Herbarium of SA, Dept for Environment and Water