A great time was had by 30 landcarers at an overnight stay at Perup: Nature’s Guesthouse for the 2018 WALN Annual General Meeting and Networking Gathering.

The 2018 WALN AGM and Networking Gathering was held from 15 to 16 November attracting landcarers primarily from the south west and south coast regions but also some from as far away as Perth and the Northern Agricultural region. Thanks goes to the Blackwood Basin Group for hosting the event at the magnificent Perup: Nature’s Guesthouse. WALN couldn’t have asked for a more perfect venue for getting its members and stakeholders together and experiencing the special natural values of the south west region.

The two day event began with a tour of the Perup Guesthouse including its extensive solar plant that allows the facility to operate completely off grid. Participants were then treated to presentations by Julia Wayne from DBCA about wildlife monitoring and feral control management programs at Perup; Murdoch University PhD Candidate, Anke Seidlitz about her numbat conservation research; and HAS University Applied Biology Intern,  Sarah Mahie about her skull preservation work with native fauna in the area. All presentations were informative and allowed participants to understand the special conservation values of the Perup and Tone Nature Reserve.

A drink and BBQ in the evening were enjoyed by all with Blair and Mick demonstrating their cooking skills on the barbeque. A night time spotlighting trek with Sean Welsh the Perup Caretaker took participants through the bushland surrounding the Guesthouse. Sadly the wildlife was particularly shy on this occasion with only one possum sighted a way off. Participants finished off the night with a hot cuppa and a chat before bed. Oh and dont forget the Wallaby Bites! Yum!

Friday saw most participants rise early for a nature walk using the network of walking trails offered at the Perup Guesthouse. After breakfast the official proceedings kicked off with thoughts from our Chair, Keith Bradby on State and Federal Landcare Perspectives followed by Keith and Helen pulling off the quickest AGM in history. Blair followed entertaining everyone with his launch of the new Who’s who in the Landcare Zoo Program  and getting participants down to some workshopping on the topics of ‘What people need from WALN’ and ‘What people would like from the 2019 State NRM and Coastal Conference’. Take a look at the Summary of the Workshop Discussions to find out more about what was discussed.

The event was wrapped up with a site visit to the nearby Talison Lithium offset property. Participants were able to view the innovative approach being taken to protecting habitat for Black Cockatoos on the property and learn about the management and monitoring of the property by the Blackwood Basin Group.

Thanks to all those who attended the 2018 WALN AGM and Networking Gathering. In our Chair, Keith Bradby’s words –

‘Great location, delightful crowd of people who came along, with many new faces, some quite meaningful discussions, and good humour throughout. Not to mention the superb organising that made the whole event run like clockwork, even though the logistics were not small. Well done Caroline and Blair – that was fantastic! Our media and sausage specialist Mick certainly has Perup all over social media! The facilities enabled us to run a low impact event – recycling and composting, off grid power and water, all the catering equipment so mostly plastic free’.