Marino CONSERVATION PARK FIRE

4 Dec, fire swept through the western slopes of Marino Conservation Park, burning some 75% of the coastal heath vegetation. The Friends of the Park need our support right now.

At around 10.30 pm 4 Dec, fire swept through the western slopes of Marino Conservation Park, burning some 75% of the coastal heath vegetation. This patch of coastal heath is one of the last and best remaining example in the Adelaide metropolitan area , preserving the sort of vegetation that once grew along the whole of the coastline and it was primarily for this reason that Marino was proclaimed a conservation park some 30 years ago.

Only this week, a significant upgrade on the botanical trail in the Conservation Park had been completed along with an impressive viewing and interpretation area overlooking the coastal heath. Sadly this morning, the viewing area now overlooks blackened and scorched earth, the result presumably of some firebug.

The volunteers who work in the park, have been working tirelessly over the last few years in planting areas along the trail and dealing with infestations of introduced weeds to enhance the experience of visitors to the park. Clearly we are all devastated with the news.  Thanks to the efforts of the CFS, one section of the heath which contained a number of rare and vulnerable plants, was saved and the volunteers are hopeful that given it doesn’t appear to have been an excessively hot burn, many of the plants will recover over time.

The Friends of Marino Conservation Park need our support right now, if you would like to reach out to them please contact Alan Wilson on 0499 933 331