Business Clean Up at Flat Rocks

With just a few short days left until the official Clean Up Australia Day, the NACC team chose to once again participate in the Business Clean Up Day and get their hands dirty in support of this important Nation-wide event.
Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 Business Clean Up at Flat Rocks
With just a few short days left until the official Clean Up Australia Day, the NACC team chose to once again participate in the Business Clean Up Day and get their hands dirty in support of this important Nation-wide event.
Celebrating a fantastic morning at Flat Rocks.

After piling into the work vehicles and completing the short drive down to coast to Flat Rocks beach, our crew joined up with a team of friends from some of our important partner organisations.

Volunteers included a group from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservations and Attractions as well as a few helping hands from Mid West Ports.

With hats on heads and bags in hands, the 15 participants split up into smaller groups and headed into the dunes and along the waterline to collect any rubbish and marine debris they came across.

After a few hours of collecting, it was time to sort through the trash and record the findings for submission to the Tangaroa Blue Foundation to assist with their Source Reduction Plans.

Almost 700 pieces of foam buoy were found along the beach.

The information collected helps identify the sources of environmental contamination and assists with the development of innovations to reduce future impacts.

It was a truly successful day, not only did the group get to enjoy a beautiful view and a morning out of the office and in the bright sunshine but also managed to collect 10 full bags of rubbish equating to 120kg.

More than 1500 items were counted after being collected across 250m of beach – these items included almost 700 individual pieces of foam buoy, nearly 100m of rope and over 200 pieces of plastic.

NACC Sustainability Coordinator Emma Jackson said she had been wanting to do a big clean up down at Flat Rocks for a while as there was always a lot of marine debris in the area.

“It is also a little way out of town, so it doesn’t get as much attention as some of the closer beaches,” she said.

“It was great to be able to take advantage of the Business Clean Up Day to get a big team down there to help out.”

Mid West Ports Environmental Officer Erin Gibbens said she really enjoined the day and was surprised at how much rubbish there was down on the beach.

“It was great to see different organisations taking part and hopefully next year there will be even more.”

There are a number of local events taking place on Clean Up Australia Day (Sunday) in Geraldton – for more information and to find an event visit the website here.

This event was supported via NACC’s Elevate Your Impact project assisted by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program supported by Royalties for Regions.

For more information about this project, visit https://www.nacc.com.au/project/elevate-your-impact/ or contact Sarah Samulkiewicz-Taylor at NACC via email sarah.taylor@nacc.com.au, or mobile 0408891 502.

 

This project is supported by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program, supported by Royalties for Regions.

Share

We'd Love to Hear From You!

Your feedback is important to us. If you have suggestions, questions, or would like to get involved in Natural Resource Management, please use the form below or contact our Geraldton office. We’re here to listen and help

Contact Us

Geraldton Office

4 Walton Close, Geraldton
Post: PO Box 7168, Geraldton, 6531
Phone: (08) 9938 0100
Office hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm

Forms

Expression of Interest Form 🞂

Suggest a Project Form 🞂

Membership Form 🞂

Donations Form 🞂

Contacts

NACC Board Members 🞂

NACC Staff 🞂

NRM Bodies & Groups 🞂

CEO’s Report

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.