WETLANDS experts will converge on Cockburn this week to discuss the future of Perth’s urban bushland.
The 10th annual WA wetland management conference will be held at the Cockburn Wetlands Education Centre on January 31, just two days before World Wetlands Day.
The program features a combination of keynote and poster presentations and workshop sessions attended by more than 150 delegates from around the world.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘wetlands and agriculture’, placing a focus on bringing together wetland conservation, agricultural and water managers. The theme was set as part of the international Ramsar convention on wetlands, which Australia is a signatory to.
The conference could not have come at a better time, particularly in Cockburn which has lost many of its precious wetlands to roads, residential and commercial developments.
A quick drive-by of wetlands in the city this week revealed a sorry state of affairs.
Rubbish, vandalism, arson and weed infestations are obvious from images taken by the Chook, while urban development pushes ever closer. At Boronia Park in Success, where housing has been pushed right to the water’s edge, trees look like they’ll barely survive another five years.w
At nearby Forrestdale, residents are fighting plans to build a new road through a Bush Forever site.
The construction of Keane Road will cut travel time to Armadale by four minutes, which they say is not worth the 1.68ha of ‘dampland’ and loss of wildlife expected to be cleared by Main Roads. Public submissions to the controversial plan close February 3.
by CARMELO AMALFI