NACC NRM Endorsement: Uluru Statement from the Heart

Sustainable Agriculture - Program Overview

Agriculture is a significant industry in the Northern Agricultural Region accounting for approximately 70% of the land use and a third of the economy. Agriculture in the NAR is facing pressures from many fronts including a changing climate, pest animals and plants, erosion, and declines in soil and ecosystem health. Despite facing these challenges, the Agricultural industry represents a great opportunity for NACC NRM to have a positive landscape scale impact.

During 2019-20, NACC NRM’s Sustainable Agriculture Team has been addressing these threats by working with land managers, community groups and industry experts to deliver projects that support implementation of practices that will contribute to the stabilisation of soils and on-farm ecosystems of the NAR, while maintaining productivity and supporting long-term profitability.

Through funding from the Australian Government’s Regional Land Partnerships Program, NACC NRM’s Sustainable Agriculture Program has supported several on ground projects contributing to 81ha of improved management with a further 100ha registered through expression of interest for delivery in 2020/2021. This program has provided 11 community engagement events and workshops. The Sustainable Agriculture Team has continued building the relationships established in 2018-19 and has strengthened working relationships with Landcare Groups, Grower Groups, landholders and schools in the Northern Agricultural Region during 2019-20, assisting with 7 grant applications on behalf of our stakeholders.

NACC NRM has also continued to deliver projects funded through the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program. These projects included the ‘Red Card for Rabbits and Foxes’ project which supports coordinated grass-roots participation in feral animal control and; ‘Helping Hand to Maintain your Block and the Environment’ which supports small landholders of the NAR to manage their landholdings in a sustainable manner and apply small-scale agricultural practices effectively.

NACC NRM has also been successful in securing funding through the National Landcare Program’s Smart Farms Small Grants for a demonstration and extension project that will focus on the benefits of utilising legume species to reduce wind erosion of soils during dry periods. The project focuses on soil moisture retention and reduced topsoil erosion while also providing an opportunity to boost soil carbon content. NACC NRM has also continued ‘Being Smarter with our Data’ to improve the use of sustainable agricultural technology through a series of hands-on technical workshops for landholders.

Collaboration has been a key part of NACC NRM’s Sustainable Agriculture Program throughout this year, and going forward it will become increasingly important as financial and environmental climates present new challenges for farmers in the Northern Agricultural Region.

Sustainable Agriculture - Program Highlight

The Sustainable Agriculture team was proud to launch our four-year RLP Agriculture project during 2019-20, ‘Growing Great Ground’.

‘Growing Great Ground’ offers landholders – through an expression of interest process – incentives to undertake works that establish or improve groundcover and establish or improve native vegetation and on-farm biodiversity with an aim of protecting at least 740ha of agricultural land by 2023. NACC NRM is enticing landholders to trial new activities using an incentive model. This reduces the initial financial burden for landholders and negates some of the risks associated with implementing new activities. While establishing groundcover has benefits for grazing and re-vegetation has immediate visual benefits, these activities also address soil and ecosystem issues that affect the NAR such as erosion, low soil organic carbon and fractured or missing ecosystem services.

Coastal and Marine - Program Overview

In October 2019 the NACC NRM Board resolved to establish the Coastcare Support Team with four focus areas:

Support the delivery of on-ground activities which achieve the aspiration and goals of NARvis;
Support improved engagement between NACC NRM and coastal community groups;
Increase the number of young people engaging with Coastal community groups and actvities;
Engage with all community members (via public events) to improve their understanding of coastal processes and coastal biodiversity.

In March 2020, NACC NRM re-established our Coastal program, welcoming two Coastcare Support Officers (0.8FTE total) in Dr Mic Payne and Tegan Knowles, to the team. The commencement of this dynamic duo coincided with COVID-19 restrictions which presented an ideal opportunity to undertake in-depth planning and submission writing. In the period between March and June 2020 a total of 5 grant applications were written and submitted.

Our Marine Parks Grants, Department of Environment and Energy:
‘Connecting Communities with Abrolhos and Jurien Marine Parks’
Aurizon Community Giving Fund:
‘Coronation Beach Track Improvement’
Coastwest, Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage:
Building Community Capacity in the Northern Agricultural Region’
Midwest Port Authority Community Grant Program:
‘Coronation Beach Clean Up’
State NRM:
‘Geraldton Community Weedbusters’

A collaboration between NACC NRM, DBCA, Shire of Dandaragan, and the Jurien Bay Regional Herbarium Group instigated earlier this year has reignited a project to remove Sharp Rush from priority sites within the Hill River, with on-ground works planned to commence late 2020.

The Coastcare Support Team is focused on providing support to coastal communities and we are actively seeking collaboration and partnership opportunities to achieve that outcome. One of the key paths to achieving this, is by working with dedicated coastcare volunteers; another is through partnerships with coastal stakeholders and industryies, including Local Government Authorities. In concert these partnerships – with facilitation from our Coastcare Support Team – will realise an array of exciting projects into the future.

Terrestrial Biodiversity - Program Highlight

Diversifying the biodiversity program with two new projects has strengthened and expanded our capacity to achieve conservation outcomes in the NAR during 2019-20. Through these projects and partnerships, our community engagement has continued to grow. In September 2019, NACC NRM again hosted the WA Threatened Species Forum in Geraldton. The event heard from over 30 high-quality scientific research, conservation and community presenters, showcasing environmental outcomes from government programs through to grass roots conservation efforts. Over 100 delegates had the opportunity to engage with national, state and regional threatened species strategies thanks to state and federal government presentations. The forum enabled the sharing of activities, interventions, science and solutions for protecting and recovering Australia’s threatened plants and animals.

Looking ahead, ‘Setting seed: Rescuing Foote’s Grevillea (Grevillea calliantha)’ also commenced planning during 2019-20. This project is a proposed partnership with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions to safeguard the genetic diversity of this species. The project aims to halt the decline and improve species conservation and recovery through improved management and threat abatement at known sites. The partnership will enable propagation of seed stock and revegetation at known sites, the establishment of a secure new wild population, and increased engagement of community and landholders to raise awareness and understanding of Foote’s Grevillea.

Terrestrial Biodiversity - Program Overview

Biodivesity

Across the biodiversity program, opportunity for habitat restoration and conservation activities have taken flight this year. Building upon the multi-faceted ‘Gnow or Never’ project, a new initiative commenced in 2019-20 in partnership with land managers, Birdlife Australia and neighbouring regional NRM groups for the protection of Carnaby’s black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris). ‘Protecting WA Black Cockatoos’ is being implemented to improve habitat quality and extent for black cockatoo nesting and feeding sites, including threatened ecological communities. NACC NRM is achieving this by working with landholders to protect strategic sites in the NAR which aims to generate long-term benefits for fledglings. Activities will include revegetating with key food plants for black cockatoos; improving nesting habitat through controlling stock access; regeneration, weed and pest management; as well as erecting structures or repairing nesting hollows. These activities are in addition to the 175 hectares of revegetation and 437.5 hectares of protected vegetation completed through ‘Gnow or Never’ during 2019-20. Also contributing to Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) preservation has been a successful partnership with the Northern Biosecurity Group (NBG) for feral predator control in 200 hectares of strategic habitat. This partnership has increased awareness of the threats to both Malleefowl and the Black-Flanked Rock Wallaby as the projects’ priority threatened species and, increased the impact of land managers’ contributions to the project.

Across all of our projects partnerships are essential. The National Malleefowl Recovery Team and Western Australian Malleefowl Recovery Group are key partners in delivering ‘Gnow or Never’, and Birdlife Australia is supporting the Black Cockatoo project by providing advice on monitoring and on-ground activities at priority nesting sites. Demonstrating this further, in 2019-20 we commenced a key partnership with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. ‘Securing the future of regionally extinct mammals in the NAR’, supports the Mt Gibson Sanctuary in reversing the tide of mammal extinctions. Mt Gibson Sanctuary has established over 43km of feral-proof fence surrounding 7,800 hectares – including large areas of pristine woodlands. Within this feral-predator free area, nine of Australia’s most threatened mammal species are being reintroduced and, in so doing, delivering a substantial increase in the world population of these mammals. This project is being conducted alongside research which will directly influence AWC’s reintroduction methodologies and management of feral predators, informing the feasibility of releasing Western Quoll’s (Dasyurus geoffroii) outside of the feral-free zone. The project also aims to improve the trajectory of three other threatened species listed under Australia’s Threatened Species Strategy – Woylie (Bettongia penicillata), Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), and Bilby (Macrotis lagotis). The project has also enabled improved connection to country for Badamia people with the first of a series of on-country events held during the year.

Aboriginal Participation - Program Overview

Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program

NACC NRM recognises the unique understanding that Aboriginal peoples have demonstrated over many thousands of years in managing the region’s natural resources, and is committed to collaboration and meaningful engagement with Aboriginal peoples. This ‘two-way’ land and sea management philosophy combines traditional knowledge and contemporary science to conserve culture and protect biodiversity.

The Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program (MARP) is now in its third successive year. Funded by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet through the National Indigenous Australians Agency, MARP began in 2017 as a pilot and now employs around 20 Aboriginal people across coordinator, ranger and trainee positions in the Northern Agricultural Region. Aboriginal rangers are employed through project partners; Kwelena Mambakoort Aboriginal Corporation, Western Mulga and the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. This program is delivering Aboriginal employment in conservation of environment, cultural sites, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

Western Mulga continue to employ over ten Aboriginal rangers and have welcomed their first Aboriginal woman to the role, as well as continuing their school-based traineeships program in collaboration with local Geraldton high schools. These rangers are providing weed management, native plant propagation and revegetation within the northern agricultural region. Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporation have developed their cultural activities and training by adding a ‘bush kitchen’ in which rangers will be able to be taught about bush foods, preparation and usage, learning directly from Yued Elders. DBCA continue to employ four full-time Aboriginal rangers who have been out on-country engaging with visitors and managing conservation outcomes in public spaces. Across the program 38 Aboriginal people have participated in training, including 16 females. The program has provided environmental management and conservation activities across 24 Aboriginal sites.

NACC NRM has also directly employed an Aboriginal Administration Trainee to support the MARP and provide a further opportunity for an Aboriginal person to develop a range of skill sets. Solid Science e-news articles have been produced by our Aboriginal Administration Trainee to promote traditional ecological knowledge and the importance of the sustainable methods of natural resource usage. NACC NRM also created the Aboriginal Women Conservation Team during 2019-20 to encourage and support more Aboriginal women to be employed in the conservation industry.

Chair's Report

For the entirety of its existence NACC NRM has been about resilience as it applies to the environment, ecosystems and agriculture of the Northern Agricultural Region. In each of these aspects of Natural Resource Management we have had some clear wins; some honourable draws and while I am not willing to concede to an outright loss there are some decisions still pending.

The trials and tribulations that NACC NRM has faced and survived over the past year or so with, first, a severe reduction in funding and now the COVID-19 pandemic, is testament to a different kind of resilience and has given me cause to reflect on the concept of resilience as it applies to organisations.

It seems to me that there are a few characteristics that determine organisational resilience and they are:

A commitment to a worthy purpose. The natural and agricultural resources of our region are rare, beautiful and valuable but they are fragile. The protection of these resources for the use and enjoyment of future generations is very worthy.
A strength based on proven systems and a record of achievement. NACC NRM is recognised as having amongst the best governance and management process of all the regional NRMs in Australia and our project management and delivery performance has seen us awarded additional projects during 2019-20.
A flexibility and adaptability to adjust to changing circumstances and priorities. Despite a big reduction in resources, NACC NRM has been able to maintain a broad portfolio of terrestrial projects while rebuilding a coastal and marine capability.

Credit for NACC NRM’s performance is largely due to its staff, past and present, who together embody the characteristics outlined above. My admiration for those who confronted and overcame the drop in resourcing twelve to eighteen months ago is well known and now extends to those who, with leadership from our CEO, Katherine Allen, have found a way to maintain our mission through what we hope is the worst of the COVID-19 crisis.

Resilience, however, requires continual maintenance and development. The re-establishment of the Coastcare Support Team ensures that we can, once again, address a key element of our region’s natural resources and one that is a priority for a large portion of our community.

The recruitment of Kane Watson as Programs & Operations Manager and Amanda Bourne as NARvis Project Officer adds a breadth of experience and depth of expertise that will be essential if we are to maintain our resilience into the future.

The NACC NRM Board has also undergone a significant renewal with Alison Sentance and Joel Bailey, who have been appointed pro tempore, bringing additional skills and expertise to the table.

There remains one issue of increasing concern to me and that is our dependence on the Commonwealth Government for both our core and project funding. If we are to be truly resilient into the future and to be able to address regional as well as state and national priorities, we need to diversify our resource base and funding sources.

With the Board and management team we now have and NLP2 having three clear years to run, we must apply ourselves to addressing this significant risk to our resilience and I seek the patience and support of our members and stakeholders as we address this task.

Rob Keogh
Chair

CEO's Report

Opportunities, Collaborations and Partnerships

Community engagement continues to be a critical pillar of NACC NRM operations. I am excited to report that 2019-20 has seen an invigoration of this pillar across our activities. A notable achievement in this space has been the re-establishment of Coastcare Support Services for which the organisation has provided seed funding using NACC NRM reserves. The enthusiasm this team brings to their work is first-rate, and the extent to which they have been welcomed back by coastal communities across our region speaks volumes.

Collaborative activities across all programmatic themes have seen a range of projects scoped and launched in 2019-20, including:

Review of NARvis – commenced
Cross-regional Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo Project – commenced
Increasing soil vitality through legume pastures – commenced
Chapman Catchment Regeneration Project – scoped, funding application submitted

Another collaborative highlight has been the inclusion of Western Mulga and the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program within the new WA Museum. This, coupled with the commencement of the Aboriginal Women’s Conservation Team within the MARP and the employment of a Full-Time Aboriginal trainee within the NACC NRM team makes 2019-20 one of the biggest years in the program.

These are just a handful of the activities underway and don’t do justice to all that my passionate team has been developing and supporting across NRM, landcare and the broader community throughout the year. For details I encourage you to read our more detailed program reports.

As a result of personally participating in the NARvis review and consultation process recently, I know there are many more opportunities for NACC NRM to collaborate with regional stakeholders. I encourage you to keep in touch with us through our social media platforms and the ‘submit a project’ form on the NACC NRM website to share your ideas. You can also stay up to date with our current activities through “NACC Notes”.

One can’t talk about 2019-20 without mentioning COVID-19. Although the pandemic presented challenges for NACC NRM, it also provided an opportunity for us to demonstrate agility and resilience through the strength of our partnerships. A highlight has been the pivoting of our RALF team to digital technologies to deliver engagement and event related outcomes.

As a result of efficiencies in the delivery of some on-ground activities, NACC NRM has made funds available to invest in additional NRM activities in the region. The key outcomes of these investments in 2019-20 are the Coastcare Support Program and a dedicated Communications Officer. These investments are yielding dividends in their respective fields. The Coastcare Support Team represents recognition at the Board level of the demand for these services from our many coastal communities. The decision to invest in dedicated Communications resources represents recognition of the increasing complexity of communication activities, and their importance to achieving outcomes. During 2019-20 we have seen steady growth in the level of engagement and number of followers across our communication platforms.

Our investment decisions have supported our team culture and productivity; allowed us to rebuild relationships with groups across the region and supported collective efforts to deliver on-ground benefits.

The size of our region and the range of issues are such that we cannot hope to improve the condition of the regions’ natural resources, unless we have meaningful and productive relationships across the breadth of the community. I look forward to broadening and deepening our collaborations and partnerships across the region, and to the opportunities and resilience that this will generate.

Katherine Allen
CEO

Treasurer's Report

You will recall our cautious optimism as NACC NRM moved to the procurement model under the Regional Land Partnerships Program of the National Landcare Program phase 2. Under this model, we continue to engage with the Australian Government, seeking funding for additional NAR projects. At the commencement of RLP, NACC NRM had secured only the ‘Gnow or Never’ project for Malleefowl and Core Services funding to be delivered beyond 2018-19. During 2019-20 we launched three new long (>12 month) projects and an additional short (<12 months) project. The increase in longer term project commitments ensures that we have a strong foundation for collaborations and partnerships.

The organisation maintains a strong Balance Sheet position. It is well understood that for a Not-for-Profit business to remain robust and contribute to its mandate, strong governance must be underpinned by financial stability and sustainability. This is emphasised by the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission (ACNC). In meeting its fiduciary duty, the Board is working on an operating model that allows for the maximisation of on-ground investment while at the same time maintaining adequate reserves for any unexpected funding or cash-flow shortfalls.

During 2019-20 NACC NRM recognised income of $3,856,543 and expenditure of $2,834,470 resulting in a 2019-20 surplus of $1,022,073. This surplus has occurred through a confluence of:

Changes in the way committed funds are dealt with by our auditors. Now that our project funds are provided under a procurement model, the majority of our committed funds are not recognised as such in the accounts.
Efficiencies in the delivery of project outcomes. In part as a result of changes forced upon us by COVID-19, a number of project activities which had been budgeted for face-to-face delivery, were delivered through online environments which resulted in savings.
The Australian Government also supported NRM organisations through the crisis by enabling Managing Organisational Capacity payments which enabled continuity of program delivery where service level delivery challenges were experienced as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.

The organisation has many stakeholders with an interest in the NAR coastline. In recognition of this, the NACC NRM Board has supported – through the use of NACC NRM reserve funds – the establishment of a Coastcare Support team. The Coastcare Support team will seek to increase its impact by leveraging additional funding for the region through partnerships and project funding applications.

The Board will focus future investment of reserve funds where there is:

Alignment with stakeholder interests as determined through the NARvis prioritisation process;
Alignment with 2020-24 NACC NRM Strategy and;
An opportunity to utilise reserve funding to leverage additional on-ground project delivery funds from external sources.

Reflecting on the year that has been, I would like to say thank you to the NACC NRM Team. The organisation demonstrated that it is agile and moved quickly to mitigate any COVID-19 challenges presented early in the year. The team has also been innovative in the delivery of project activities through the development of online content and in supporting communities to embrace this change.

Thank you.

Susanne Levett
Treasurer

Coastal and Marine - Program Highlight

The highlight for 2019-20 has been reconnecting with coastal communities of the Northern Agricultural Region. Whilst most groups have managed to maintain some level of activity over the past two years, Coastcarers expressed their relief that NACC NRM is again available to provide technical support, build capacity and support efforts to source funding for projects. Lists of Coastcare contacts and their priority projects have been collated and the Coastcare Support Team are looking forward assisting more dedicated volunteers to deliver their projects.

Aboriginal Participation - Program Highlight

NACC NRM’s Aboriginal Women’s Conservation Team was established in January of 2020. After receiving many applications, a team of eight women was employed from at least six different language groups, ranging in ages from 20 to 60. Many of the women are carers of children or elderly and were looking for opportunities to re-enter the workforce in roles which could be achieved in harmony with family commitments while allowing the women to give back to country. The diversity of this team has created a group that is rich in knowledge and experience as each individual brings learnings that are specific to their own language groups. The team completed a Plant ID course through Central Regional TAFE and were introduced to stakeholders in the conservation industry including WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation & Attractions, Bush Heritage and community volunteer groups such as the Geraldton Regional Herbarium. In addition to these opportunities, the women also gained work experience by teaming up with other MARP ranger teams from Western Mulga and Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporation.

Sustainable Agriculture - Program Highlight

During 2018-19 NACC NRM was successful in securing a one year project under the Australian Government’s Regional Land Partnerships called ‘Supporting Smarter Farms’.

This project offered – via tender – an innovative opportunity for landholders in the Northern Agricultural Region to address soil acidity, reduce wind erosion, increase soil organic carbon and/or improve native vegetation and on-farm biodiversity by submitting a bid to deliver improvements in on-farm ecosystem services. This methodology gave landholders the opportunity to choose the innovative pathway which best suited their enterprise, to achieve improved land management.

Soil organic carbon proved to be a topic of much interest with local land managers, with four sites selected to undertake on-ground works addressing soil carbon in Canna, Bunjil, Coorow and Mingenew.

These sites investigated ways to increase soil carbon with the aim of improving soil health, with project works focused on adding biological fertilisers and the reducing artificial fertilisers, while also looking at the myriad of flow-on benefits.

Supporting Smarter Farms was developed to not only deliver on-ground outcomes but as a proof-of-concept for a much larger project. In both of these aspects the project was successful and NACC NRM is now looking for opportunities to take this proof and deliver the project on a larger scale. In addition it has led to discussions with external partners – Murdoch University, University of WA and Land Save Organics – to extend trial works and develop ‘how-to guides’ for the use of compost and vermi-compost to boost soil microbial activity.

Coastal and Marine - Program Highlight

Photo credit: Nic Dunlop

Coastal conservation in the Northern Agricultural Region received a boost after NACC NRM announced the recipients of its tenth round of Coastal Community Grants.

The latest round of grants included projects deploying drogues equipped with GPS units to track the wave movement under a variety of winter weather conditions; promoting awareness around coastal saltmarshes; survey of vegetation, fish and terrestrial vertebrate fauna; dune stabilisation activities; and new interpretive signage along the Turquoise coast.

One of these grants was awarded to Chapman River Friends to celebrate Worlds Wetlands Day 2019 and to highlight a hidden gem right in the heart of Geraldton – the Chapman River.

More than thirty community members joined the wetlands walk, which started with a slight detour along the foot bridge and a conversation about coastal salt marshes – a threatened ecological community and listed as Vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

Coastal salt marshes provide extensive ecosystem services such as filtering surface water prior to it entering the sea, carbon sequestration, coastal productivity, nursery habitat for a range of fisheries species, provision of food and nutrients to adjacent marine and estuarine ecosystems, and stabilisation of coastlines.

Another project of interest involves a systematic ‘values and condition’ survey of vegetation, fish and terrestrial vertebrate fauna along the Hill River Estuary.

This beautiful estuary is truly significant as the last bar-controlled estuary on the west coast. It is though, increasingly threatened by uncontrolled access, particularly by off-road vehicles. The system has never been systematically surveyed or mapped for its biodiversity values. To this end Conservation Council WA, together with volunteers and professionals alike participated in fish and aquatic invertebrate monitoring, spotlighting, bird surveying and additional beach plastic and feral animal monitoring.

The next step will be a Hill River Estuary Planning and Management Workshop to be held at Jurien Bay in November.

Coastal and Marine - Program Overview

Since June 2018, NACC has had very limited capacity to actively work with coastal communities. Consultation with our coastal stakeholders, from LGAs to community groups has identified that community awareness raising and education programs relating to coastal ecosystem awareness remain a high priority for these communities. In particular, LGAs and community groups – equally – highly value the technical and community engagement support that NACC has previously provided, which makes many community projects come to life for small regional centres.

As such, we are aiming to rebuild the coastal program and the culture and passion which drove the 2017 Coastal Team to award winning heights, and is still very present across our broader NACC NRM team.

NACC NRM has and will continue to invest in the coastal and marine program. Our in-kind contribution combines all of our previous program materials and intellectual property with our networks across regional community groups.

And although we do not currently have any funded Coastal projects, in the 2018/19 finical year we were able to offer a round of NACC Coastal and Marine Community Grants; upgrade our Photomon App to include an interactive map to simplify finding your Photopoints out in the field and embedded metadata into photos once in the database, which will be useful where photos are exported out of the database for reporting; and support the Batavia Coastcare Network coordinate the fifth annual Geraldton Big Beach Up – which removed more than 100kg of rubbish from Geraldton beaches.

NACC NRM’s former Coastal and Marine Program was key to delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of on-ground projects along the coast of the NAR and leveraging hundreds of hours of volunteer time – and the current NACC NRM team will continue to seek additional resources to restore this program.

Biodiversity - Program Highlight

The Scaly-leaved Featherflower (Verticordia spicata subsp. squamosa) has been rare for as long as it has been known. Since its discovery in the 1950s less than ten populations of the species have been found over a small area in the Three Springs and Mingenew areas. This area has been extensively cleared in the past, with most of the known populations now occurring on narrow road verges, or in small patches of remnant vegetation on private property.

NACC NRM secured funding from the Australian Government’s Regional Land Partnerships Program and the Biodiversity Team partnered with Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Western Australia (DBCA) and local land managers to show that by working together, government, not for profits and land managers, can take radical action to halt the decline and restore rare flora.

‘Search and Rescue: A partnership approach to translocations and monitoring for Scaly-leaved Featherflower’ aimed to halt the decline and improve the conservation and recovery of existing populations through establishing new secure wild populations, feral pest control and safeguard genetic diversity through seed collections and seed storage.

The project also had a focus to monitor known Scaly-leaved Featherflower habitat and survey for additional populations in likely habitats. And in late 2018, a community flora survey resulted in two new sub-populations of Scaly-leaved Featherflower, being identified in the Midwest – before this exciting find there were only six natural wild plants known in two locations.

In addition, a translocation planting in winter of 2019 resulted in more than 40 seedlings being planted at two sites – with one establishing a new population.

This project has established a strong model for threatened flora translocation plantings in the NACC NRM Region and demonstrated that partnership projects like this make a game-changing difference for the future of Australia’s threatened species.

Biodiversity - Program Overview

The 2018 Gunnado BioBlitz Team

The Northern Agricultural Region is home to over 7,600 native plants and animals – of which six per cent are endemic to the region – this place is a true biodiversity hotspot. In fact it boasts three of Australia’s 15 biodiversity hotspots, and is part of the internationally recognised Southwest Australia Biodiversity Hotspot.

Over the past year, NACC NRM’s Biodiversity Team has been all a flutter for Malleefowl. Through funding from the Australian Government’s Regional Land Partnerships Program, the Biodiversity Program has initiated a new cross-regional project called ‘Gnow or Never: Supporting Communities to Save Malleefowl’. This multi-faceted project aims to secure the Malleefowl in the wild, engage local communities in its conservation, and encourage the local community to identify with it as a flagship for threatened species conservation.

To date this project has engaged with five land managers and committed to protecting more than 250 hectares of remnant vegetation, revegetating more than 50 hectares and controlling feral predators across 100 hectares.

While Malleefowl and other threatened species have become flagships for the Biodiversity Program, the Team is committed to engaging with and inspiring the community, and during the 2018/19 year hosted and supported a wide array of community projects.

In August, the Biodiversity Team followed the wildflowers north and headed to Shark Bay to join Bush Heritage Australia for the third annual ‘Hamelin Science Fair’ – a free weekend of entertainment and presentations by Western Australian scientists about the Shark Bay World Heritage Area covering topics such as rangeland and fire ecology, marine research and conservation management.

During September the sun was shining and the wildflowers were blooming when participants joined the Gunnado BioBlitz – many were regional residents, but many also travelled up from Perth for the event. Gunnado BioBlitz was a community project aimed at bringing together professional and amateur ecologists – and those interested in learning more about their natural environment. Later in September the Biodiversity Team supported the Open Day at the Biennial Blues for the Bush event held again at Charles Darwin Reserve. This event gave participants the chance to learn about ecology, nature conservation and sustainability in a stunning outback landscape.

In Autumn, NACC NRM and Birdlife Midwest-Geraldton volunteers gathered in Chapman Valley to count our states northern-most population of Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos as part of the 2019 Great Cocky Count. The group spotted a flock of around 140 Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos as they foraged on the ground and then in Eucalypt and Banksia trees.

In April, the Biodiversity Team supported the Geraldton Regional Herbarium to hold an identification workshop focussing on small flowered Myrtaceae. The NAR is richly diverse in Myrtaceae species, in fact, it is believed to be second highest diversity anywhere in the world – with even more species potentially waiting to be discovered.

During May, the Biodiversity Team hosted Australia’s leading Mistletoe expert, Dr David Watson for his fascinating talk ‘The secret life of Mistletoe’ – which describes his work with Mistletoe across the globe and his research that has helped highlight the vital role Mistletoe plays within an ecosystem.

On World Environment Day, NACC NRM staff alongside volunteers from BirdLife Midwest Geraldton and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), took part in translocation plantings of Eucalyptus cuprea to help restore the majestic Moresby Range Conservation Park.

And to round off the financial year, the Biodiversity Team hosted two wildlife photography workshops in the region. The workshops were led by award-winning nature photographer Georgina Steytler, and participants were provided with handy tips and hints to capture incredible nature photographs and also got some secret tips for taking award-winning bird in flight images.

Looking forward to the 2019/20 year the Biodiversity Team is excited to continue Catalysing Community Conservation and increasing the NACC NRM profile to generate more support for conservation.

Aboriginal Participation - Program Highlight

Caleb Shaw and Jordan Jackamarra, both previous MARP KMAC Yued Trainees and now fulltime DBCA Aboriginal Rangers

NACC NRM’s Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program not only assists Aboriginal peoples to manage cultural, land, sea and natural resources, but also acts as a vehicle for training and employment of Aboriginal peoples living in the Midwest.

This financial year the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program has established strong partnerships between the project partners, enabling them to support each other through on-ground training opportunities and sharing of traditional ecological knowledge.

For example, Western Mulga Aboriginal rangers joined DBCA rangers to achieve accredited fire management and fire crew training experience in Kalbarri National Park.

In addition, Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporation (KMAC) provided a cultural immersion experience for Jurien Bay DBCA staff including sharing of traditional resources such as bush food, Aboriginal tools, guided tours of registered sites and advice about site specific cultural protocols.

The Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program has also enabled the development of partnerships between project partners and local Aboriginal communities to achieve conservation and cultural outcomes for country. One such partnership has not only resulted in the sharing of cultural protocols and priorities – including interpretive signage and cultural education activities – but also the employment of two trainee Aboriginal rangers from KMAC moving into full-time positions with DBCA.

Furthermore, Western Mulga – a Supply Nation listed Aboriginal owned and operated business – continued to work with community groups such as the Clontarf Academy through local high schools, to provide career development and work experience opportunities for Aboriginal youth considering a career in conservation.

Aboriginal Participation - Program Overview

NACC NRM recognises the unique understanding that Aboriginal peoples have demonstrated over many thousands of years in managing the region’s natural resources, and is committed to collaboration and meaningful engagement with Aboriginal peoples. This “two-way” land and sea management philosophy combines traditional knowledge and contemporary science to conserve culture and protect biodiversity.

During 2018/19 and in partnership with NACC’s Biodiversity Program a new project called Yamaji Women Learning on Country was initiated – a community consultation project aimed at encouraging and facilitating increased participation by Aboriginal women in NRM activities in the Yamaji region of Midwest Australia.

In this first year, the project has focussed on gathering knowledge – through community engagement and consultation – involving a series of regional workshops that provided Yamaji women with an opportunity to learn more about, and contribute to natural resource management monitoring, training and implementation activities. A planned second stage of this project is being considered, which would involve a multi-year program focused on supporting Aboriginal women to participate in various in natural resource monitoring activities.

Following the highly positive 2017 pilot, NACC NRM was successful in receiving funding from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy (now National Indigenous Australians Agency) to continue to deliver the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program – offering transformative and meaningful employment, cultural and conservation outcomes within the Aboriginal community until 30 June 2021. .

The Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program sees 13 FTE positions for Aboriginal people – largely rangers positions, employed with our project partners – Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporation, Western Mulga and WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. These three organisations together care for a very large area of country, protecting and conserving the highly biodiverse environment of the Midwest of Western Australia.

This financial year also saw the formation of Solid Science – an informative section in NACC’s e-newsletter where people can learn about Aboriginal ecological knowledge and share in the responsibility of environmental stewardship.

The team at NACC NRM are also conscious of the need to engage more Aboriginal people in our everyday organisational activities and will be filling an Aboriginal Administration Trainee position in 2019/20 to provide administrative support to the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program and across NACC NRM teams.

General Manager's Report

General Manager Katherine Allen

The period between 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 has been for many reasons one of the most challenging in NACC NRM’s history – owing to the significant change in organisational structure and significant reduction in our scope of activities.

As always, the dedicated and passionate NACC NRM team have worked incredibly hard in that time, to ensure our contracted milestones and deliverables are achieved on-time, but also that our community is supported to deliver projects.

Especially exciting this year was the investiture of two of NACC NRM’s most prominent recent figures in Dr Jill Wilson (immediate past Chair) and Yvonne Marsden (immediate past Treasurer) being honoured with Order of Australia Medals for their individual services to conservation and the environment. I have had the great pleasure of working alongside these women and their awards are both well-deserved and long overdue. NACC NRM is delighted to see both of these women recognised for their enormous contributions to our community.

Early in 2019 we launched our Waste Free on Wheels trailer initiative to support community events in their efforts to reduce community event waste burdens. We are looking forward to seeing the trailer at events all over the region in the coming months.

We have also been fortunate in 2018-19 to have a number of applications for funding approved and have these projects get underway. Of particular note are our Australian Government funded Smart Farms Small Grants Project ‘Getting Smarter with our Data’ and WA State NRM Program funded ‘Yamaji Women Learning on Country’. These two small but exciting opportunities are currently underway and I encourage you to keep an eye on NACC Notes for upcoming event opportunities and project outcomes.

As part of the roll-out of Regional Land Partnerships, NACC NRM was also offered an opportunity to undertake monitoring and on-ground activities to improve the trajectory of a little known threatened flora – the Scaly-leaved Featherflower. The Scaly-leaved Featherflower (or Verticordia spicata subsp. squamosa) is endemic to our region, and thanks to the efforts of the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, volunteers from the Geraldton Herbarium and members of the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program two new sub-populations of this spectacular plant have been identified.

Following on from the Board’s strategic planning workshop in March, which reinvigorated NACC NRM’s strategic direction and identified some strategic actions, I have been engaging with a number of coastal local governments to suggest a strategic partnership approach for coastal activities in the region. I look forward to continuing those discussions and cementing these partnerships in the near future.

The focus of 2018/19 has been on steadying the ship and I believe the team has weathered the rough conditions ably. The team and I now turn our focus to consolidating the achievements of 2018/19 and look forward to new opportunities in natural resource management and the adoption of more ecologically sustainable practices across the Northern Agricultural Region community

Katherine Allen

General Manager*

*As of October 2019, the Board of Directors officially promoted Katherine Allen to CEO of NACC NRM.

Chair's Report

On the face of it NACC NRM, at the end of the 2018/19 year is a very different organisation to that of twelve months ago. I am, however, pleased to say that, in many important if intangible regards, it has retained the characteristics that have marked its success over many years.

Looking at the objective measures first, as a result of Regional Land Partnerships process, we have a significantly smaller staff complement, a smaller budget and a narrower range of projects.

An aspect of our new circumstances that is of concern to me is that opportunities for community engagement in our activities is significantly reduced. On one hand, the two major projects for which our tenders were successful; Malleefowl and Sustainable Agriculture; while very important in themselves, are located in remoter parts of the region limiting the scope for community involvement. On the other hand, the selection criteria applied to tenders in this round meant that our proposals for coastal and marine projects were not accepted. Under previous arrangements coastal projects were an important component of our suite of programs and were the basis for extensive and productive engagement with the community.

Against that and in addition to the two projects specified above, NACC NRM through a contract with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, has a continuing involvement in a region-wide program which sees 13 FTE Aboriginal rangers employed with our project partners – Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporation, Western Mulga and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

On the organisational front, under the leadership of Katherine Allen, the NACC NRM team has adjusted to the new circumstances and has maintained NACC NRM’s long record of high achievement in regards to efficient project management and delivery, and has often gone beyond contractual limits to add value to the projects and undertake additional work, consistent with the organisation’s broader objectives and philosophy. This capability and efficiency positions us well should opportunities to bid for additional projects arise.

On the financial front, while our annual budget is considerably smaller than in previous years, careful management of the resources available has ensured the security of NACC NRM and allowed us to think beyond the projects we are currently contracted to deliver.

All staff are to be congratulated for their commitment and flexibility in adapting to the new circumstances and I pay tribute to my fellow directors for their support and counsel. It is with regret that I note that Dr Dean Revell has decided not to stand for re-election to the board. His expertise across a range of agricultural disciplines has been of great value to NACC NRM and I wish him well in the onerous role he has recently taken on.

With our team settled, our processes well established and our finances secure we can now look to addressing some of the gaps I noted earlier in regards community engagement and coastal and marine activities.

Anything we might undertake in these regards will necessarily be modest in their initial ambition but we hope that as we demonstrate a commitment and capability we will attract support to expand these efforts. In the light of recent reports the need for attention to coastal management is both important and urgent.

NACC NRM only has relevance if it is embedded in its local communities now more than any other time, we need the ongoing support of our membership. We greatly appreciate the solidarity shown so far and trust that we will continue to enjoy it.

Robert Keogh

Chair

Coastal and Marine - Program Highlight

Not surprisingly, estuary monitoring is a popular volunteer activity in the Healthy Estuaries program.

Communities are always passionate about their local estuaries and one way they can get involved in caring for them is to assist with regular water quality monitoring.

So it was no surprise that this year saw a great leap forward for the Healthy Estuaries program with the successful completion of a Coastwest project to establish regular community monitoring of the comparatively pristine Hill River estuary. This builds on the existing community monitoring taking place.

Strong backing from the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation resulted in technical support on sampling days and publication of the data on their database. In another partnership win, the project commissioned the Federation University in Victoria to develop a portal for display of WA Estuary monitoring data. Now communities can directly upload their information to a dedicated database and keep track of estuary health.

This project will be community-led going into the next financial year with hopes of more community engagement and development opportunities.

WA Estuary Monitoring

This project was supported by the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and the Western Australian Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage’s Coastwest Program.

Biodiversity - Program Highlight

Land clearing is a fundamental pressure on the environment. It causes the loss, fragmentation and degradation of native vegetation, and a variety of impacts on our soils (e.g. erosion and loss of nutrients), waterways and coastal regions (e.g. sedimentation and pollution).

The fragmentation and degradation of remnant vegetation can, in turn, disrupt essential ecosystem processes such as pollination, seed dispersal and regeneration. Smaller fragments of remnant vegetation are also vulnerable to invasive species and fire.

In our quest to prevent loss, and indeed to protect and enhance local biodiversity, NACC has been partnering with Traditional Owners, local individuals, communities and community groups, and government agencies and authorities to protect and restore the NAR’s unique flora and fauna and manage ongoing threats over the past financial year.

NACC has supported more than 40 land managers to protect over 8,600 ha of priority bushland across the NAR, since the program’s inception. On-ground works have included fencing to protect remnant vegetation and exclude stock from sensitive areas, weed control, revegetation and installation of interpretive signage.

These works provide habitat for a range of the region’s threatened species including:
• Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata),
• Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris),
• Western Spiny-tailed Skink (Egernia stokesii subsp. badia), and
• Scaly-leaved Featherflower (Verticordia spicata subsp. squamosa)

While threatened species have become the flagship for NACC’s Biodiversity Program, our initiatives are improving habitat for threatened and non-threatened species alike.

This project was supported by the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Sustainable Agriculture - Program Highlight

Engaging farmers

Over the life of this project (since 2013) NACC has funded 37 Farm Demonstration projects through 6 grant rounds open to Grower Groups, farmers and industry with an additional 13 projects funded through the 2017-18 Small Grants round – key highlight of the Program’s offering.

In total, NACC has funded more than $800,000 of Farm Demonstration Projects since 2013. One of the key outcomes of the project has been improving engagement and collaboration with groups, individual landholders and industry.

Of the 37 demonstrations, 17 were delivered solely by landholders, showcasing the incredible drive of farmers within our region to be innovative. The remaining demonstrations were all delivered collaboratively between NACC and grower and industry groups, including groups and landholders that hadn’t previously engaged in work with NACC.

During the project there has been some great reports released by funding recipients including the ‘Benefit of Cell Grazing in the NAR’ a Mingenew Irwin Group demonstration; ‘Improving Water Use Efficiency for Citrus Growers In the West Gingin Area’ a WA Citrus Demonstration and; ‘Is Soil Acidity an Issue in Permanent Pastures’ an Evergreen Farming demonstration. For more information on the demonstrations and to view all the reports go to the Demonstrations’ Sites web page on the NACC website.

Farm Demonstrations

This project was supported by the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Aboriginal Participation - Program Highlight

Yued Elder Mr Charlie Shaw with Yued Ranger Trainees Jordan Jackamarra and Caleb Shaw

A key highlight from the Aboriginal Participation program during the past financial year included supporting connection to Country and sharing of culture and cultural stories with newly employed Yued Rangers through NACC’s Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program.

Through this partner project, the Yued Rangers were introduced to significant cultural stories passed down from Yued Elders of Wedge Island, Noongar Country.

The Rangers, managed by KMAC Botanical and Environmental Services (KMAC), visited Western Australia’s iconic Pinnacles with Traditional Owner Charlie Shaw, where Mr Shaw told the Ranger’s many significant cultural stories, one about the Aboriginal warriors that entered the area where the Pinnacles are found today.

This story, and many more, have been passed on through the Yued community for thousands of generations and is a strong reminder of the responsibility the Yued people have to care for their country. NACC’s Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program is proud to be a part of this important cultural sharing process, a major goal we aimed to achieve through this program in the past financial year.

KMAC Project Manager Annie Shaw said, “We’ve been looking after Boodja (Country) for a long time and it’s great to see young Aboriginal people being trained and becoming Rangers”.

According to the Shaw family, the word “wedge”, comes from the Yued word “wedj”, which means ‘place of emus’. The trainee Aboriginal rangers have been maintaining Aboriginal midden sites in the area that still have evidence of emu egg shell fragments.

This project was supported by the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council through funding from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Sustainable Agriculture - Program Overview

Credit – Gail Reed

Agriculture is a key driver of the economy in the Northern Agricultural Region (NAR). There are many pressures that this industry is facing, climate variability, pest animals and plants, erosion, as well as maintaining healthy and productive soils. All of these are critical to address in natural resource management and in the support of productive landscapes and rural communities into the future.

Over the past financial year, NACC has been working with land managers, community groups and industry experts to promote and support practices that will contribute to maintaining the productivity, profitability and environmental sustainability of the NAR.

Regional projects undertaken by NACC’s Sustainable Agriculture Program during 2017-2018, have focussed on research and on-ground management through the delivery of the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme (NLP). A broad range of projects including farm demonstrations, farm planning, community engagement events and workshops were all funded through NLP.

The Regional Landcare Facilitator project has been engaging Landcare Groups, Grower Groups, landholders and schools through provision of grants and support for capacity building activities, while NACC’s staff have been working with landholders to identify issues, and provide information and tools to support on-farm action.

Regional stakeholders engaged in the planning and delivery of NACC’s Sustainable Agriculture program activities have included the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), grower groups, industry organisations, volunteer landcare groups, environmental groups and private land managers.

NACC has also been engaging with small landholders through a State NRM project that was launched in 2017. This project has encouraged small landholders to network and aimed to improve their capacity to manage their properties sustainably.

Collaboration has been a key part of NACC’s Sustainable Agriculture program in 2017-18, in collaboration with all the WA NRM groups, NACC held the successful biennial Talkin’ Soil Health Conference. Hosted for the first time in two locations with the Northern event in Dalwallinu and the Southern in Katanning.

NACC Staff on the Program

The following staff members contributed to the Sustainable Agriculture Program in 2017-18:

Sally Fenner
Stanley Yokwe
Callum Love
Sarah Jeffery
Heather Legge

Coastal and Marine - Program Overview

Coastcare came together to plant a beautiful native garden next to the Green Head skate park.

As in previous years, the Coastal and Marine Program’s strong community engagement has underpinned a plethora of successful on-ground activities.

During 2017-2018, 42 community engagement and capacity building activities were completed, with over 1,400 volunteers in attendance. Highlights include the Coastal Carnival – a celebration of Coastcare achievements across the region; Tending the Tracks project which engaged Perth-based 4WD clubs in regional NRM; three presentations at the WA State Coastal conference and; a workshop highlighting the state of NRM on the Abrolhos Islands. This years’ annual Big Beach Clean-up in Geraldton was another cracker, and to round it all off, NACC’s Coastal team had the honour of taking out the 2017 Australian Coastal Council Association’s award for community engagement.

The Coastal Weed Control Programs targeting African Boxthorn and Pyp Grass infestations of coastal fore dunes and riparian vegetation communities proved to be the most successful engagement activity in the past financial year. The development and deployment of the “Enviroshears”, a hydraulic cut and paste machine, will continue to increase returns on boxthorn control investment in the region well into the future.

Revegetation projects dominated the rainy months at the start and end of this financial year, many funded by the Coastal Community Grants program. More than 10 sites were planted with local provenance seedlings, meanwhile a major revegetation project in Jurien Bay and Cervantes has helped exclude opportunistic weed invasion following Pyp Grass removal.

The program’s three citizen science activities – beach photo-monitoring, seabird tracking and Healthy Estuaries – continued to generate important information for best-practise management. A comprehensive review of the beach monitoring program resulted in recommendations for its improvement, two publications resulted from the seabird project and a web portal dedicated to displaying estuary monitoring data was completed.

Photomon Services continues to attract national and international interest with a number of organisations signing up for trial accounts. A comprehensive upgrade to these Services was completed following user feedback.

NACC’s Elevate Your Impact project partnered with businesses, schools and community groups, to help support community-led NRM engagement. Through this volunteer capacity building project, funded by the WA Government through the State NRM program, nine events were held engaging 260 people in partnership with 11 Community groups, nine businesses, five LGAs and four schools across the NAR. Further, 1,570 native seedlings were planted, 550kg of rubbish collected from the bush to the beach and 180kg of priority weed species were removed.

All in all, the Coastal and Marine Program team pushed through to make this past financial year one of the program’s most diverse and engaging.

NACC Staff on the Program

The following staff members contributed to the Coastal and Marine Program in 2017-18:

Mic Payne
Hamish Longbottom
Vanessa McGuinness
Tegan Clarke

Biodiversity - Program Overview

During the past year, NACC’s Biodiversity Program team has been working hard engaging with local land managers and working with them to protect and promote the region’s biodiversity.

Among the many highlights of the last 12 months for the Biodiversity Team was the 2017 WA Threatened Species Forum – hosted by NACC and the other six WA NRM groups in partnership with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. The Forum was well attended, with 170 delegates travelling from around the state, and beyond, to attend. It also boasted a strong line-up of speakers, a wide scope of topics, and a flawless four days of activities.

In February, Jurien Bay was abuzz as NACC hosted its first creative and informative hands-on Native Bee Workshop. Then in June, Kalannie locals made a bee-line for their local CRC – to learn how to build their own bee hotels, more about the value of native bees and what they can do to help. These events were a huge success in our communities, offering a meaningful way to engage more people in environmentally-aware practices through an innovative capacity-building workshop.

During the past financial year, NACC fostered a special partnership with the Shire of Perenjori and Greening Australia to celebrate the magic of the Malleefowl, creating a unique art activity hosted by Badimaya artist Delys Fraser, located at the Geoff Trott Memorial Park, Perenjori.

Adding to community engagement works, a small group of lucky visitors were treated to an insight at Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary – a place of refuge for some of Western Australia’s most precious and threatened native species. By partnering with AWC and running events like this Open Day, NACC hopes to further engage our local community and make them more aware of the plight of our native animals, and the impact that feral cats are having.

Over the September long weekend, NACC joined up with partners Yarra Yarra Catchment Management Group and Moore Catchment Council to host the inaugural Midwest BioBlitz at Bunjil Rocks. More than 60 professional biologists and capable amateurs attended the event with people travelling from Geraldton, Northampton, Perth, Northam and Dowerin.

In addition, round three of NACC’s Biodiversity Community Grants resulted in grants being awarded to five land managers and community groups, totalling approximately $50,000. One grant saw Geraldton the centre of national attention for this year’s World Environment Day 2018 when the Federal Assistant Minister for the Environment, and Member for Durack, Melissa Price MP made a point of being in town to launch a brand new ‘CRFwildflowers’ app – designed and developed by local volunteer Bushcare group Chapman River Friends.

NACC Biodiversity team was also proud to work in collaboration with the Aboriginal Participation Team to support NAIDOC Week. This year’s theme was ‘Our Languages Matter’ where a series of communication tools were created to highlight several languages of the region’s Traditional Owners.

NACC Staff on the project

The following staff members contributed to the Biodiversity Program in 2017-18:

Jessica Stingemore
Lizzie King
Vanessa Brown
Marieke Jansen
Heather Legge

Saving the Red-tailed Phascogale is a video from AWC’s Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary.

Aboriginal Participation - Program Overview

Out of the classroom and into the bush. Mullewa students examining a Malleefowl mound.

Supporting more Aboriginal people to care for Country has been a major focus of the Aboriginal Participation Program in 2017-2018.

In this past financial year, NACC’s Aboriginal Participation Program has reached some major milestones, particularly through the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program (MARP) and Capacity building for Indigenous Prison Inmates Project, which have both significantly helped facilitate the sharing of Aboriginal Knowledge and supported the transfer of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. NACC has been able to support the Aboriginal community to care for their Country, gain NRM training and employment on Country through these projects, and also encouraged the wider community to share and enjoy the responsibility of environmental stewardship.

The MARP has been delivered in collaboration with key partners in Western Mulga, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, KMAC Botanical and Environmental Services and the support of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. This project provided opportunities for Aboriginal people across the Mid-West region to be employed and engaged in Natural Resource Management (NRM) activities while delivering on-ground conservation outcomes with a strong cultural emphasis on Caring for Country.

In addition during 2017-2018, NACC developed two educational resources for schools: Sharing Yamaji Knowledge and Sharing Noongar Knowledge. These resources align with the Western Australian Science and Humanities, and Social Sciences curriculum for students in pre-primary to Year 9. The resources include information on your local Aboriginal groups, connection to Country, bush food, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, caring for Country and changes to the environment post-colonisation.

The resources have been developed in consultation with Noongar and Yamaji people and contain background information, videos and activities to engage learners, which gained media attention from ABC Mid West – Wheatbelt, and were designed to complement incursions or excursions with Aboriginal members of your community.

NACC Staff on the project

The following staff members contributed to the Aboriginal Participation Program in 2017-18:

Bianca McNeair
Greg Burrows

Using the Bush as a classroom is a video by the ABC’s Chris Lewis

https://vimeo.com/271627937

Chair's Report

My diversion is long-distance cycling. Since 1990 I have clocked up more that quarter of a million kilometres on two thin wheels, including a number of two, three and four week tours in the USA that have, inter alia, traversed the length and breadth of both the Rocky and Appalachian mountain ranges.

On many occasions have I crested a lesser hill or rounded a bend to confront first, a pleasant descent and/or an inviting flat leading to what appears to be a wall many hundreds of metres high. Invariably, on closing, the “wall” becomes a slope and while demanding and slow-going, there is always a way up and over.

So has it been for NACC over the past year. As Richard McLellan details in his CEO report, the past twelve months has been a period of high achievement and rapid progress across the whole gamut of NRM activities by a competent, committed and well-led team. For me, apart from fulfilling all of our commitments under the National Landcare Program phase 1 (NLP1), the highlights have been the second WA Threatened Species Forum, the innovative and exciting “Little Footprint, Big Future” exhibition and its associated activities, and the continuing productive engagement with the region’s coastal and farming communities.

Since December 2017, however, we have been increasingly aware of the “wall” that is the end of the current funding contract with the Australian Government under the first phase of the NLP1, and the emergence of the new Regional Land Partnerships (RLP) program under NLP2. The preparation of our RLP tender consumed a great deal of time and resources within the organisation.

While this effort was successful to the extent that our tender was accepted in part, the services required of NACC under the new contract are narrower in scope than under NLP1, involving a single if substantial biodiversity project relating to Malleefowl and their habitat and a second smaller, sustainable agriculture project. Further, of their nature these projects limit our opportunities for the broad community engagement that characterised our activities under NLP1. In particular, they do not directly involve working with the region’s large coastal communities

Fortunately, in preparing our tender, the CEO and his team foresaw what might eventuate and initiated action to prepare NACC for this future. As a result of this foresight, there has been an orderly but still dramatic and painful, reduction in NACC’s staff complement across all levels and activities in the organisation, to match the workload we now face. Included amongst those leaving the organisation have been many long-serving, committed and capable people, not least our CEO himself.

I have been in awe of the understanding, courage and dignity the people affected have displayed in dealing with very difficult personal and professional circumstances. They have the abiding gratitude and admiration of all directors for your contribution to NACC over the years and for the way you have responded to an unenviable turn of events. We wish you all every success for the future.

As far as the Board is concerned, during the second half of 2017, Bev Logue resigned for personal reasons; and later with the end of her term as a director, Yvonne Marsden, who has served and supported NACC and the Board in a wide range of roles over many years, decided not to seek re-election. I wish to thank both directors for their contributions.

At the election conducted in September 2017, members elected Susanne Levett and Dr Indre Asmussen to fill the two vacancies on the Board and both have already demonstrated a capacity to add value to the Board’s deliberations.

With the contraction in the size of NACC, there is a need to ensure that the size of the Board is consistent with the needs and resources of the organisation. While the optimal future size and composition of the Board is yet to be determined, I note with regret that the Deputy Chairman Kent Broad, has tendered his resignation effective from the end of June 2018. I thank him for his service and support.

As of the beginning of July, we know what the RLP will deliver us and what we have to do to earn it. We also know that the NRM demands of the Northern Agricultural Region (NAR) extend far beyond the scope of the RLP and that gap defines both the challenge and the opportunity facing NACC, its board staff and membership. In Katherine Allen, who has been appointed General Manager, we have someone who has a breadth of experience within NACC, a commitment to our objectives and the strong support of the Board.

In the first instance, we have an obvious need to ensure that we meet our obligations under the RLP. Less urgent but arguably more important is the need to ensure, if at all possible, that the other NRM priorities of the NAR and its communities are not neglected.

Already we have the prospect that the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program that we have been awarded, and which is funded for three years, will provide us scope to address some needs while building longer-term capacity within the region. We are working with a variety of coastal community groups and Local Government Authorities in an attempt to rebuild an effective coastal and marine capability for the region.

It may be that some or most of these and other initiatives we pursue, if they come to fruition, will not bear the NACC logo but in these instances “ownership” is a secondary consideration.

The future of NACC is in no way clear nor assured, but equally, extinction need not be the outcome and it is not one to which the Board and remaining staff of NACC are resigned. With commitment, initiative and the support of the membership we believe that we can continue to fill important and valuable leadership, coordination and support roles in activities that advance the cause of NRM in our region.

Rob Keogh

Chair

CEO's Report

The 30th of June 2018 is a significant date in many ways, but one which is particularly pertinent to NACC is the fact that it marks the end of the first phase of the National Landcare Program (NLP1), and for NACC “the end of an era”. More on that later in this column.

Once again, this past year, the organisation has excelled on every front, far exceeding its Key Performance Indicators, and goals, objectives and outcomes under its strategic plans and contractual agreements. This is all entirely due to the “above and beyond” work ethic of the NACC team – who have ‘walked the walk and talked the talk’ on a daily basis when it comes to our Mission, Vision and Core Values. The staff have been incredibly focussed on finishing NLP1 having made a real difference to natural resource management in the region. This has only been achieved through fantastic support from our community, our Board, our partners, and all of our supporters who have participated in our programs, projects and activities in one way or another.

The team at NACC has much to be proud of from the 2017-18 Financial Year, with so many highlights that only regular readers of our popular NACC Notes newsletter, or our followers on Facebook and Twitter, would have a real understanding. There has literally been something significant happening in NRM across our region just about every day.

For me, (and there’s no way that I can list them all), here are some of the highlights of the past year:

The large number of farmers who have protected native vegetation on their properties under our Protecting Priority and Threatened Flora and Fauna Scheme. Much of the credit for these outcomes is due to the hard work carried-out by our field staff over many years operating from offices in Northampton, Nabawa, Perenjori and Moora.
The establishment and implementation of the Midwest Aboriginal Ranger Program –with funding from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and collaboration with partners at the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), Western Mulga, Central Regional TAFE, Kwelena Mambakort Wedge Island Aboriginal Corporation, and others.
The extremely successful 2017 WA Threatened Species Forum – delivered in collaboration with DBCA and NRMWA over two days coinciding with the national Threated Species Day (7 September) with amazing support from other key stakeholders, and a record number of delegates and presentations.
Almost weekly, popular Coastcare activities up-and-down our 550 kilometres of coastline – carried-out by our community-engagement-award-winning Coastal & Marine team, with great examples in the Geraldton Big Beach Clean-up (in November) and similar activities in Cape Burney, Jurien Bay, and other coastal centres.
The innovative Little Footprint, Big Future interactive NRM exhibition – launched and conducted in collaboration with the WA Museum Geraldton. Indicative of the passion and dedication, the weekend of the opening of the exhibition (in October) coincided with four other NRM community activities carried-out by NACC staff across the region.
The Talkin’ Soil Health Conference conducted in Dalwallinu (in March) – hosted by ABC Landline host Pip Courtney, opened by National Soil Advocate, former Governor-General Major-General Michael Jeffery, and featuring the announcement of the Northern Agriculture Region’s 2018 Soil Health Champion Brendon Haeusler.
Hosting the Assistant Minister for the Environment Melissa Price in the NACC region on World Environment Day (5 June) in collaboration with partners DBCA, Western Mulga Aboriginal Ranger team, and the Chapman River Friends group at the Chapman River Regional Park.

Other notable milestones achieved over the last year include NACC joining the national Rangelands NRM Alliance; signing an MOU with the West Australian Biodiversity Science Institute (WABSI); leading on the development of an ‘environment’ pillar of a new MidWest Development Commission Research & Development initiative; NACC representing NRMWA on a new WA Threatened Species Consortium initiative; and our ongoing support for and collaboration with a whole range of organisations, including the Gunduwa Regional Conservation Association, and the six other regional NRM groups in WA, especially our neighbouring groups in Rangelands, Wheatbelt and Perth – with whom we have many cross-boundary synergies and collaborations.

I know that I haven’t done justice to all of our achievements from the last 12 months, so encourage everyone to have a look at the rest of this excellent Annual Report – especially the reports from the individual thematic programs. I also encourage you to make sure that you’re subscribed to NACC Notes or are following NACC on Facebook or Twitter – to keep abreast of all that is happening in our wonderful region on a day-by-day and week-by-week basis.

Finally, more on my ‘End of an Era’ comment at the start of this column. After three and a half years at NACC, and in timing with the considerable change necessitated at NACC in the transition from NLP1 to NLP2, I have decided to hang-up my ‘nine-to-five-routine’ boots and put myself out to pasture. Fortunately, the organisation is in very good hands with Katherine Allen now at the helm, supported by an incredibly passionate, dedicated and hard-working team, and a competent and highly-skilled Board under the leadership of Dr Robert Keogh.

I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all of these individuals for their support during my time at NACC, especially the staff and Board directors, but also the many partners and members with whom I’ve worked, and who have been involved in NACC activities and helped us achieve so many amazing results within the Northern Agricultural Region.

Thanks again for all of your support, and good luck for the years ahead.

Richard McLellan

Chief Executive Officer

NACC NRM Endorsement: Uluru Statement from the Heart

NACC NRM Endorses the Uluru Statement from the Heart

The Directors of NACC NRM have heard the call from First Nations representatives and resolved to support the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We accept the Statement’s invitation for all of us to work together for a better future that connects all Australians.

Acknowledgment of Country