All Aboard the Orchid Bus

Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 All Aboard the Orchid Bus
Orchids come in many shapes, sizes, colours and some of them are even found underground – as budding botanists from the NACC NRM Region discovered earlier this month.

On 27-28 August more than fifteen local community members attended an orchid identification field trip lead by expert Andrew Brown who has spent over 40 years researching Western Australian Orchidaceae species.

The orchid enthusiasts all jumped onto the 4WD bus – driven by the team at Kalbarri Adventure Tours – as Andrew led them on a guided tour of some his most treasured sites in the region.

Participants were informed how Western Australia’s orchids are highly adapted and incredibly diverse having coevolved to the unique conditions of the local environment – some of these incredible adaptations include needing a fire event to flower, pollination by a single species and essential relationships with soil mycorrhizae and bacteria.

As part of the event, participants learned how to use orchid specific dichotomous keys. One species keyed out by the team included a Spider Orchid known as Caladenia longicauda subsp. minima, recently identified and named by Andrew himself.

Andrew said that this was a wonderful two days out in the field with a dedicated and knowledgeable group of wildflower enthusiasts from Geraldton and surrounds.

“Apart from seeing many local orchid species in good flower we discussed topics including what morphological features are unique to orchids, what features can be used to differentiate one orchid species from another, how to use orchid keys, the association orchids have with Mycorrhizal fungi, what pollinates orchids and how pollinators are attracted. Some of those present were lucky enough to observe orchid pollination first hand when a male thynnid wasp was seen pollinating Smooth-billed Duck Orchid.”

NACC NRM’s Bushcare Officer Jarna helped organise the event and thanked Andrew for making the journey to Geraldton and informing the participants about orchid identification.

“On behalf of NACC NRM and others on the bus trip, I would like to thank Andrew for sharing his knowledge and pointing out hidden treasures along the way with many orchid species seen in perfect sunny weather.”

Jarna added that “the two day trip was a great success and altogether we saw more than 20 species of orchids some of which are threatened.”

“It was also a wonderful opportunity for local volunteers to connect with a botanical expert from the city and create working relationships into the future.”

The project was supported by NACC NRM and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions through funding from the State Government’s State Natural Resource Management Program.

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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.