‘Local tree’ wins National ‘Eucalypt of the Year’ competition

The iconic River Red Gum that lines the rivers and creeks of the NACC NRM region has been declared the inaugural winner of the ‘Eucalypt of the Year’ award by competition organisers, Eucalypt Australia.
Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 ‘Local tree’ wins National ‘Eucalypt of the Year’ competition
The iconic River Red Gum that lines the rivers and creeks of the NACC NRM region has been declared the inaugural winner of the ‘Eucalypt of the Year’ award by competition organisers, Eucalypt Australia.

The River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) beat-off hundreds of other gum-tree contenders among Australia’s 900 Eucalypt species to score the most nominations and votes from the general public.

The competition was organised by Eucalypt Australia to help celebrate the 2018 National Eucalypt Day – held every year on 23 March.

Eucalypt Australia is a “charitable trust that focuses on eucalypts, an Australian icon and a significant aspect of Australia’s natural environment and biodiversity. We envisage a public inspired by and appreciative of eucalypts.”

River Red Gums are very familiar to many in our region, perched along the banks of our creeks, gullies and rivers. They actually occur right across southern Australia – principally on inland watercourses – and are in fact the most widespread of all of the country’s eucalypts.

CEO wins Eucalypt of the Year photography prize

Among locals who got into the spirit of National Eucalypt Day was NACC CEO Richard McLellan, who sent-in a number of nominations of Western Australian trees that he thought deserved to be promoted.

“We’ve got a multitude of amazing gum trees that most folks in the Eastern States (where most of the voting public live) would never had heard of,” he said. “Species like the Salmon Gum, Gimlet, York Gum, Karri, Marri, Tingle, Red-flowering Gum … the list is almost endless.”

 

One of Richard’s nominations – the Gimlet (Eucalyptus salubris) – was judged the winner of the event’s photographic competition.

“Congratulations to Richard McLellan, whose photo won the most attention (likes and retweets) and thus is our #EucBeaut18 photo prizewinner,” said Eucalypt Australia. “Richard’s tweet celebrating the “sensuous” Gimlet earned us a spot on the Triple J breakfast program.

“There were so many wonderful photos shared throughout the #EucBeaut18 campaign for Eucalypt of the Year and so we relied on our audience to choose a winning photo. We collated “likes” and “retweets” across Twitter and Instagram and are happy to announce that Richard has won this year’s photo prize for his image of the Fluted gum or “Gimlet” (Eucalyptus salubris) captioned: “Once more with feeling: Eucalyptus salubris – aka Gimlet or Fluted Gum – easily the most sensuous Gum tree on the planet.”

“Congratulations to Richard, whose tweet earned us a spot on Triple J breakfast and who has thrown his support behind the #EucBeaut campaigns for a number of years now.”

 

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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.