SARA Member Profile: Andrew Vredenburg

What is your current Role and Location?

Land and Recreation Officer with SA Water.

How did you first become involved in protected area management and what attracted you to this career?   

After finishing high school, I had no clear career direction. My dad suggested I try out for the ForestrySA Seasonal Fire Crew, and I was successful in getting a casual position for the 2013 fire danger season. I didn’t realise it at the time, but that experience sparked my interest in protected area management.

I moved to the NPWS Fire Crew for the 2014/15 season and stayed with Parks until 2017. I was also fortunate to pick up several winter seasons working in the Coorong and Lower Lakes, controlling woody weeds and preparing sites for large‑scale revegetation.

In 2017, I joined SA Water as a Ranger at the South Para Reservoir Reserve. Over the past nine years I’ve moved through several roles — from Ranger to Senior Ranger,  and now I’ve spent the last five years as a Land and Recreation Officer, working across all SA Water major land holdings. While I never really planned a career in the field. I always had an attraction to nature and the environment, whether is hiking, camping or just enjoying a view.  

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?

Working with likeminded and passionate people. Much of what we do goes unnoticed, but it’s critical work that safeguards these places for future generations.

If you could change one thing about the job what would it be and why?

Being able to wear shorts and thongs in summer.

Tell us about a funny or embarrassing thing to happen on the job:

While building culverts at the Barossa Reservoir Reserve, I loaded all our tools and concrete screeds into the back of the truck the night before. The next day we realised we needed 10 tonnes of rubble to backfill around the pipe. I completely forgot about the tools and screeds and happily loaded the truck. It wasn’t until we tipped the rubble off that I realised my mistake — buried tools and a few very bent screeds that were now only good for levelling around corners.

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to work in the environmental field?

Put your hand up and take opportunities when they arise — you never know where you’ll end up, and you might get to see some special places along the way.

Favourite quote:

‘Pack’er up boys’

Favourite animal:

Echidna or White winged chough

Favourite plant:

Xanthorrhoea semiplana ssp. tateana — especially the huge specimens in Middle River Reservoir Reserve.

Favourite SA Park/protected area?

Middle River Reservoir Reserve would be high on the list — or Little Mount Crawford/Watts Gully Native forest Reserve

Tell us about a place in SA that’s special/underrated/not well known:

The South Para River at the back of Warren Reservoir Reserve, where it meets Warren Conservation Park. It’s a largely undisturbed section or river with high plant diversity, including Correa aemula and Rubus parvifolius. The steep rocky gorges, waterfalls and large rock pools are spectacular — you just have to battle your way through some very thick Acacia paradoxa.