The year that was and the year that will be…….

Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 The year that was and the year that will be…….
Just when I thought NACC couldn’t get any busier or be juggling anymore balls, we decided to add in the Annual Regional NRM Leadership Awards for good measure.

Congratulations! To absolutely everybody who is involved in NRM in our region the celebrations this week reminded me why our industry is so fantastic. Not only is the work we support critically important, but the people who do it are the most wonderful kind of people. Passionate, generous and humble.

On Monday, NACC held its Annual General Meeting with a modest turn out of faithful NACC supporters who wanted to hear about the year that was, and the year that will be. Those in attendance were treated to an unwaveringly candid presentation by the NACC Chair Dr Rob Keogh, followed by the upbeat double act of Richard and myself – who chose to present the CEO’s report as a duo. At the conclusion of the CEO’s report, I unveiled the 2018 online Annual report which can be found here.

 

After the AGM it was a quick turn-around as the team went into Awards mode. This year the emphasis was on you, the steadfast community who have been carrying on achieving amazing things in your local environments, despite the challenges. It was an honour to recognise all of our finalists in the four categories for this year:

  • Inspiring Junior NRM Leadership
  • Aboriginal NRM Community Group
  • Outstanding NRM Community Group
  • Individual NRM Leadership

This year the wins were tightly contested across the board and while there can only be one winner, the region is the real winner, as the beneficiary of all the amazing work that these groups and individuals do.

Special congratulations to our winners:

  • Inspiring Junior NRM Leadership – Leaning Tree Steiner School for their Waste Free Spring Fair initiative and their involvement in NACC’s Enviro-Stories project amongst many other activities.
  • Aboriginal NRM Community Group – Malleefowl Monitoring Masters who have been working with Bush Heritage Australia (BHA) to undertake Malleefowl monitoring on BHA properties in the NAR and working to collect, record and appropriate transfer traditional ecological knowledge
  • Outstanding NRM Community Group – Moore Catchment Council for all of their amazing efforts during the year, but particularly in recognition of their Last Stand event held in September.
  • Individual NRM Leadership – Brendon Haeusler. It might not be a surprise to some, but this is Brendon’s second award for the year. He was also crowned Soil Health Champion at the Talkin’ Soil Health Conference in March for his significant contribution to the regenerative agriculture space and the leadership he is showing in the Carnamah community through the newly invigorated Carnamah LCDC.

We were also fortunate enough to have eight nominations for the NRM Leadership Honour Roll with all of these individuals and their countless hours of service now being recorded on our Honour Roll board.

Congratulations to Marieke Jansen, Peter Wittwer, Alan Howitt, Michael Payne, Wendy Payne, Richard McLellan, Ian Pulbrook and Wally Kerkhof.

I can’t finish off talking about the awards without mentioning our incredibly supporting sponsors two of whom have been involved in the awards since they started in 2016. Special thanks to Geraldton Community Bank branch of Bendigo Bank, our Gold sponsor for 2018 and to Regional Development Australia Midwest and Gascoyne, our Silver Sponsor. We also thank Carbon Neutral for sponsoring the Aboriginal NRM Leadership Award category.

The awards will be back again in 2019 recognising more great contributions across the region. So keep your ear to the ground and your eyes peeled for deserving nominees, and get your submissions in when the online portal opens May 2019.

Best wishes
Katherine Allen
General Manager, NACC

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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.