THE preservation of WA’s iconic coastline will be the focus of a WA Coastal and Marine Network Forum at Leighton Beach next week.
The WACMN is a collective of marine organisations and acts as a platform for resource sharing, including citizen scientists, community groups, research organisations, and local and state governments.
WACMN chair Carmen Elrick-Barr says the forum is an opportunity to “build collective capacity” between these groups, which for the first time in the Network’s history, will feature statewide organisations.
• Sea Shepherd organiser Grace Keast shows why our coasts need a lot of help – from us, mainly.
“Up until 2022, the focus was on developing the institutional architecture for the network and holding forums, and running mainly Perth-based activities,” Ms Elrick-Barr said.
“This year has really sort of seen the focus shift more to the regional areas of WA, and the forum is really a culmination of all of that external and regional engagement that’s been taking place over the last 12 months.
“We will also be talking to people about what it is that they’re having success with, what are some of the real challenges that they’re facing in terms of coastal stewardship and managing coastal areas, and what would help in being able to address some of those challenges.”
Topics will include issues such as dune resilience, erosion, marine debris, coastal heritage, and managing the impacts of four-wheel driving on coastal environments.
They’re issues which affect coastal environments statewide, according to Ms Elrick Barr, so each topic will be presented by regional representatives from Perth, the Great Southern, South West, Mid West, Gascoyne, and the Kimberley.
• Citizen scientists even get into the act.
“Obviously WA’s coast is extremely large variable in terms of the types of environments, the population density, the types of issues are also really variable, so it does need to be localised,” she said.
“At the same time, there’s many different lessons that people can learn through the different types of partnerships that are being formed in some regions, different types of funding that people are able to access, different technologies that some groups are using.
“Having those abilities to not only connect with others, but how we can actually deliver meaningful outcomes through those partnerships is something that we’re really hoping we’ll be able to build on as we move forward.”
The Network is also an opportunity for the general public to get involved with citizen science programs and contribute to environmental research and protection.
“It’s something that’s gained traction in trying to bring community along with understanding the changes that they might be seeing on the coast,” Ms Elrick-Barr said.
“It’s about trying to get people to become more aware of what’s happening on their coast, but also collecting information in a way that it’s can contribute to better understanding what changes are occurring.”
The WA Coastal and Marine Network Forum will be happening at the Freo Surf Life Saving Club on October 18 from 8.30am.
More information and registrations are available at the WACMN website.
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER