Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Jurien Bay and presenting to the Shire of Dandaragan Council about NACC NRM’s plans to re-invigorate our Coastal Program.
The discussion about ways we can work together in the future along our coastline was really positive – and I am both excited and encouraged to see how this partnership can progress. It was also great to hear about all of the current and future projects the Shire has planned.
What was most exciting about attending the meeting though, was listening to some of the public questions from the floor.
For some time now, the Shire of Dandaragan has been inviting primary school students from across the region to their August council meeting and giving students the opportunity to ask questions.
Two things from this experience were most heartening for me.
One – while the breadth of questions was wide including queries about extra rubbish bins for the Dandaragan town oval to charging facilities for electric vehicles, I was most excited that at least three of the half a dozen questions asked included an environmental flavour. From a question of feral goat management to management of sea wrack at Cervantes beach. Both of which were answered expertly by the Shire President Cr Leslie Holmes.
Two – the boldness of this generation to ask their poignant questions, particularly the rousing inquiry from a young Badgingarra resident who confidently asked ‘What is the future of Badgingarra?’
The reason that these two things are most heartening to me is that it demonstrates passion among young people for their surrounding environment – which fills me with hope. It also demonstrates a bold willingness of the younger generation to ask tough questions and make big changes.
What big change can you make today? Head to our website and check out some of our past projects for ideas on ways to care for the environment. If you have a great project idea, you can submit it via our enquiry form or email nacc@nacc.com.au
Sometimes it feels like a small change in our own lives, doesn’t achieve much. But imagine if every single person did one thing, every single day to reduce their environmental impact.
Just remember, ‘it’s only one straw, said 7.7 billion people’, what if we could all say, ‘we planted two trees, said 7.7 billion people’. You do the maths.
Warm wishes
Katherine Allen
NACC General Manager