Naturelinks
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Welcome to NatureLinks

NatureLinks is a practical approach to conserving South Australia's plants and animals by managing and restoring large areas of habitat across the State. These areas of habitat, within broad 'biodiversity corridors', will enable native wildlife to survive and adapt to environmental change.

NatureLinks recognises a healthy and diverse environment is crucial to South Australia's social and economic well-being. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working with conservation organisations, landholders and local communities to restore and manage stretches of land and sea across the breadth of each corridor. This includes existing conservation areas on public and private land, and seeking to expand these conservation areas.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources adopted the NatureLinks philosophy in 2002, which is based on The Wilderness Society's WildCountry program, with major impetus placed on the program with the incorporation of the biodiversity corridor target in South Australia's Strategic Plan (SASP).

Target 3.2 of SASP is: By 2010, have five well-established biodiversity corridors aimed at maximising ecological outcomes particularly in the face of climate change. The SA Government is progressing this target through the planning and development of five landscape-scale corridors across the state:

East meets West NatureLink
Arid Lands NatureLink
Cape Borda to Barossa NatureLink
Flinders-Olary NatureLink
River Murray-South East NatureLink

NatureLinks is a central component of the SA Government's No Species Loss Nature Conservation Strategy, which aims to minimise the decline of our biodiversity. It builds on, and is complementary to, existing conservation efforts such as State and regional natural resource management plans, regional biodiversity strategies, and South Australia's Greenhouse Strategy.

Working together, the people of South Australia can secure the State's social, economic and environmental future.

Trans-Australia Eco-Link

Newly Announced Trans-Australia Eco-Link - a joint initiative between the South Australian and Northern Territory Governments to establish a transcontinental wildlife corridor.

The Principles of NatureLinks

NatureLinks is a way to conduct biodiversity conservation. It's almost our 'best practice guide' for conservation but recognises that as in nature, the approach must be flexible.

NatureLinks promotes fundamental ecological principles to ensure the best long-term outcomes for healthy ecosystems, which state that:

  1. Biodiversity conservation activities should be planned at landscape scale,
  2. Habitat restoration should be undertaken at large spatial scales,
  3. Species in fragmented landscapes should be managed as metapopulations (populations linked by the exchange of individuals),
  4. An ecological community approach to biodiversity conservation should be encouraged,
  5. Ecological restoration should be planned over long time scales, and
  6. Biodiversity conservation activities should be underpinned by sound ecological knowledge.

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