Clean me up Scotty

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What do you get if put together a huge cube of compressed plastic bottles, a bouncy castle, lots of sausages and more than a hundred keen volunteers? Answer: Geraldton’s Big Beach Clean-up.

Last Sunday was the third consecutive year this event has been held on Geraldton’s foreshore, and was easily the best year yet.

More than 100 Geraldton residents turned out for the event, collected their clean-up gear, ventured forth and cleanedup their favourite stretch of beach, before returning to the foreshore to sort and record all of their collected rubbish.

Those who stayed til the very last minute. It was a great turn-out for the annual Geraldton Big Beach Clean-up.
Those who stayed til the very last minute. It was a great turn-out for the annual Geraldton Big Beach Clean-up.

All up, 63 bags containing 307 kg of beach litter and marine debris was collected and sorted, with rope, plastic, and cigarette butts featuring prominently.

The whole event had a festival-like atmosphere, starting off with a Welcome to Country by Wilunyu woman Donna Ronan (Minagu) with her son Leroy (Guru Gala) on the didgeridoo. Numerous posters were on display providing information on marine debris, such as where it comes from and what harm it does to the environment. Other displays focused on recycling in Geraldton, with the key message to reduce single use plastics in your life.

However, it wasn’t all about information and scouring beaches: a sausage sizzle, food and drinks, a bouncy castle and live music were all popular attractions throughout the morning. For those Big Beach Clean-up volunteers who stuck around until the very end, there was also a number of give-away prizes donated by local businesses, which included metal water bottles, keep cups, metal straws and hessian shopping bags. Young volunteer Phoebe Teakle was the closest in a participant’s competition to guess the number of bottles in a compressed cube of recyclable plastic bottle on display and won a beautiful bench-seat made from recycled plastic, which she promptly donated to her school, Geraldton Grammar. What a star.

NACC Coastal and Marine Program Coordinator Mic Payne said: “This was easily the best year we have had yet. All of the supporters and project partners knew the ropes well, and so there was much less oragnising to do. It almost ran itself.”

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who pitched-in to make this event such a success, in particular the City of Great Geraldton, Apex Australia, Batavia Coast Maritime Institute (at Central Region TAFE), Champion Bay Surf Livesaving Club, Geraldton Greenough Farmers Market Committee, Jump n Bump Amusements, Midwest Ports Authority, Replas, Ripit Security Shredding, Veolia Environmental Services, Waste Authority, local businesses who made donations, and of course the tireless volunteers.”

The feedback from the volunteers was that they all had a good time, and enjoyed helping to keep Geraldton’s beaches clean. Warp speed ahead for the same event next year was the prevailing sentiment.

For more information on NACC’s beach clean-up activities in the region, please contact Vanessa McGuiness on 9938 0108 or vanessa.mcguiness@nacc.com.au.

For more information, please contact NACC on 99380100 or email nacc@nacc.com.au.

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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.