Protecting coastal biodiversity, win-win for visitors and Coronation Beach lovers

Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 Protecting coastal biodiversity, win-win for visitors and Coronation Beach lovers

Fishing, surfing and camping … Coronation Beach located north of Geraldton in the NACC NRM Region, is the place for it all.

The coastal hotspot welcomes hundreds of locals and visitors looking for the perfect location to make the most of our region’s stunning natural assets and the great outdoors.

But, the steady increase of people using this area also has a down-side – through putting more pressure on the fragile coastal environment.

The Shire of Chapman Valley, together with the Midwest Ports Authority, Landcorp and the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council (NACC), recognised the need to protect Coronation Beach and its surrounding natural beauty while simultaneously providing facilities for users to enjoy the coast without negatively impacting the native flora and fauna. On-ground works began in 2016 with African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) control works, and revegetation of the dunes, under NACC’s African boxthorn Control project.

Dune restoration at Coronation Beach.

Marieke Jansen, NACC’s local Natural Resource Management Officer said this collaboration has enabled more to be done for the coastline.

“This project is a very good example on how different stakeholders can join forces to help protect the region’s fragile coastal environment. Pooling our resources meant that the Shire was able to apply for greater funding through the State NRM Program,” she said.

Midwest Ports Authority’s Peter Duplex said continued and collaborative action was needed to tackle invasive weeds such as boxthorn.

“Midwest Ports have been supporting the control of invasive species and coastal rehabilitation works along the Chapman Valley coast for quite a few years now,” he said.

“The Port Authority owns a large coastal strip and it is important that weeds like African boxthorn are being managed as it impacts on the native vegetation.”

One of the major outcomes at this stage of the project are the three off-road parking spots around the Coronation Beach area. Increasing visitor activity meant parking at these spots became more difficult with vehicles getting bogged in the sand, and cars parking on the fragile coastal vegetation – which ultimately was degrading the sand-dunes, causing vegetation loss and dunes to become prone to wind erosion.

After consultation with NACC, Midwest Ports and the local surf clubs, the Shire of Chapman Valley committed an extra $10,000 to formalising the off-road parking areas so people would have easy access and stay within the allocated areas and, most importantly, off the coastal dune vegetation.

Construction of the parking areas was undertaken with help from inmates from the Greenough Regional Prison.

John Glynn from Greenough Regional Prison, said: “Greenough Regional Prison has been involved with many of the Shire’s infrastructure projects at Coronation Beach.”

“It is great to see these sorts of projects developed, working to benefit the environment and the community that are using the facilities,” he said.

“Projects like this additionally provide our prisoners with an opportunity to put into practice a skill they have learned during their time at Greenough Regional Prison. It’s good for them to be involved, as it assists with their rehabilitation and supports future community reintegration.”

Local surfers have also benefitted from the new off-road-parking areas. Darryl Bailie, a member of the Geraldton Longboard Rider’s club, who has been working with the Shire and NACC to protect the fragile dunes said: “The number of surfers for this area has more than doubled over the last couple of years.

“The longboard surf club recognised very early that the increased number of cars were damaging the vegetation and the car parks were becoming inaccessible.

“We (the longboard surf club) have been putting in bollards to mark parking areas for a number of years, but because of the moving sand, some of the areas were not being used and people were parking on the edge of the tracks to avoid getting stuck in the sand. These upgrades are making access easier, and we have not seen people parking on the dune vegetation at all.”

This project was made possible through funding from the Western Australia State NRM Community Action Grant Project.

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In 2020-21 I talked about ‘raising the bar’. In 2021-22 we worked on setting the bar on fire. Over the last 12 months, the team at NACC NRM has not stopped.

The Sustainable Agriculture team has extended the program’s reach through collaborations with grower groups in the regions. Specifically, the Beyond Reasonable Drought project and Grower Group Alliance – South West WA Drought Innovation Hub – Geraldton Node project. The Beyond Reasonable Drought partnership with grower groups supported farmers across the region to improve the environmental sustainability of their agricultural production and drought resilience. The outcomes of this project have been consolidated through our successful Expression of Interest to the South West WA Drought Innovation Hub, with support from grower groups across the region, to host the Geraldton Node of the Hub. The program continues to focus on working with agricultural networks to share technical expertise and provide opportunities that will improve land management practices in agriculture across the region.

The conservation outcomes of ranger teams have expanded through work on several land tenures. Maintaining Heritage sites such as Willi Gulli, Racecourse Paddock and Buller River has long been a priority. During 2021-22, the teams have increasingly focused on threatened species and ecosystems.

To this end, Western Mulga rangers have improved management across 19,000 ha for the conservation of Malleefowl through firebreak and access management. They completed the maintenance of water holes and supported the monitoring of over 90 Malleefowl mounds.

Similarly, the Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporate ranger team have contributed positively to Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo populations by installing artificial hollows and habitat restoration.

All ranger teams have collected native seed, propagated native plants for restoration, and planted native vegetation in key locations across the NAR. Seed collection provides valuable industry experience and has facilitated the planting of over 100,000 seedlings during the year.   

In September 2021, the NACC NRM team delivered the WA Threatened Species Forum, held in tandem with the National Malleefowl Forum. Given the impact of COVID and the timing of this event, having more than 100 delegates from all over Australia was a significant achievement. The two Forums brought together 12 events over five days and featured 14 local artists, 25 businesses and 36 youth participants.

Following the successful relaunch of our updated NARvis, NACC NRM was invited to help lead a significant piece of strategic planning work for the region with Mid West Development Commission and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. With funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, the consortia delivered a Regional Drought Resilience Plan covering the shires of Northampton and Chapman Valley and the City of Greater Geraldton, along with significant technical analysis of drought vulnerability for the South West land division. The development of this plan also included extensive community consultation to ensure that local knowledge and technical advice guided the development of priorities for action.

This planning work links to existing NACC NRM on-ground projects, including Beyond Reasonable Drought and the Chapman Catchment Collaborative regeneration project.

It was a busy year for events with face-to-face events becoming commonplace again. During 2021-22 we hosted events in Gingin, Moora, Dalwallinu, Cervantes, Jurien Bay, Walkaway, Nabawa, Perenjori, Kalannie and Morawa. We supported events in Karakin, Thundellara, Perenjori, Paynes Find, Wubin, Cataby, Warradarge, Northampton, Yuna, Dalwallinu and Dandaragan.

We also supported on-ground works throughout the region, including at the following locations Yuna, Dalwallinu, Dandaragan, Merkanooka, Goodlands, Kalannie, Bunjil, Yardarino, Canna, Kondut, Latham, Kadathinni, Nabawa, Red Gully, Sandy Gully, Waddy Forrest, Devils Creek, Perenjori, Bowgada, Ellendale, Wandana, Namban, Hill River, Warradarge, Gillingarra, Regans Ford and Moonyanooka.

Our region is vast – slightly larger than Tasmania, which for comparison, is serviced by three separate NRM organisations. Covering the NAR region and its many environmental threats is challenging. We continue to focus on partnerships and collaboration to address this challenge. We know that by working with our community through passionate delivery of collaborative on-ground projects and education, the community will value and actively protect our region’s natural capital.

This year we have launched a new Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The RAP Working Group consulted widely and developed an Innovate RAP which Reconciliation Australia approved in March 2022. The activities to fulfil these commitments are now in full swing.

Sadly, at the end of 2021, we farewelled former NACC NRM CEO Shelley Spriggs, who lost a long battle with cancer. Shelley was an inaugural inductee to the NRM Leadership Honour Roll. I will always be grateful for her guidance and no-nonsense approach, not to mention her passion for life.

While we have said farewell to some, we have welcomed many new faces across all programs, including our Administration team. We have also hosted a school-based trainee from Nagle Catholic College who has been working towards a Certificate II in Conservation and Ecosystem Management. This trial position has been very successful, and we look forward to making this opportunity available again in 2023.

During 2022 we have taken on new projects that align with our organisational and program objectives, and we have successfully completed some great initiatives that support continued conservation and sustainability outcomes. I want to thank the whole team who continue to go above and beyond for the organisation and each other proving their ongoing commitment to our purpose and our values.