Partnering for Prosperity

For those members and stakeholders who closely follow our socials and attuned to political cycles, you will have noticed an exciting new publication being launched late inn 2025. While many were preparing for the festive season wind down, NRM WA was toiling hard to articulate a unique value proposition and opportunity for the 2026-27 WA Government budget.
Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 Partnering for Prosperity

The Partnering for Prosperity submission from NRM WA sets out a bold, coordinated vision for strengthening Western Australia’s natural assets and unlocking new economic opportunities. For the Northern Agricultural Region (NAR), the document reinforces what our communities know well: healthy landscapes drive regional prosperity. The paper outlines a future‑focused investment partnership that builds resilience, accelerates restoration, and seeks to demonstrate WA’s potential position as a leader in nature‑based economies.

A key tenet of Partnering for Prosperity is the need to re‑establish sustained State investment in regional NRM. WA is now the only state without core funding for its NRM organisations, reducing leverage with the Commonwealth and limiting delivery capacity. For the NAR, this means reduced ability to scale successful programs in coastal management, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity recovery, and climate resilience. Restoring a strategic partnership with the State would unlock additional Commonwealth, philanthropic, and private nature‑market investment—injecting jobs and capability directly into the NAR community.

Several proposed initiatives are especially significant for the NAR. The Coastal Resilience Initiative aligns closely with NACC NRM’s leadership in dune restoration, coastal monitoring and Aboriginal Ranger partnerships from Kalbarri to Guilderton. A coordinated, statewide drone‑based monitoring network and nature‑based coastal protection would enhance long‑term stewardship of our iconic shoreline, including hotspots such as Drummond Cove and Hill River.

The Regenerative Agriculture Program is another opportunity for the NAR to showcase landscape‑rehydration trials, soil‑health programs and farmer‑led innovation undertaken in the region by NACC NRM and our partners. The proposed region‑specific research, on‑ground trials and natural‑capital metrics proposes to build the evidence base farmers need to confidently invest in practices like contour interventions, strategic revegetation and soil‑carbon enhancement. These interventions are critical for the NAR which faces significant wind erosion risk.

The TEC Partnership Program will build the dataset and protect TEC’s occurring on private land in our region – including Banksia Woodlands and coastal heaths. The inclusion of private land in this monitoring program would support better recovery planning and stewardship agreements with local landholders and Aboriginal organisations.

Other initiatives, such as the WA Natural Capital Initiative, MRF Rehabilitation Program and Unified NRM Emergency Response Plan, further strengthen opportunities for the NAR through private‑investment mobilisation, post‑mining restoration and streamlined environmental emergency response.

Overall, Partnering for Prosperity presents an optimistic, practical pathway: building on the proven capability of WA’s NRM network to deliver measurable outcomes, while catalysing new regional investment. For the Northern Agricultural Region, it offers a chance to accelerate the great work already underway – supporting thriving communities, resilient industries, and healthy country for generations to come.

To read full submission, click here.

Katherine Allen – Chief Executive Officer

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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.