FOLLOWING recent Perth Voice coverage of the cultural and environmental pressures facing Galup/Lake Monger, locals once again rallied around the lake on Sunday for a major community planting session.
Hosted by Friends of Galup/Lake Monger, with strong support from the Town of Cambridge, the event was part of a broader winter effort to restore native vegetation and ecological balance to the 70-hectare lake — one of Perth’s largest and most cherished urban wetlands.
The revegetation of the lake’s foreshore has been more than 25 years in the making.
• More than 80 volunteers helped out. Photos by Jens Kirsch
Cherished
Starting with swales on the eastern side, non-native species have gradually been replaced with local flora.
The southern shoreline is now entering its final stage.
While bark chips used in earlier phases drew some criticism, the resulting greenery — alive with birds — has been warmly welcomed by most.
Sunday’s session saw more than 80 volunteers arrive before 8.30am to plant 2,900 native sedges.
“We were ready to rock!” organisers posted on Facebook. With perfect weather and strong community spirit, the job was completed in just a few hours.
There was a clear sense of community connection.
Families — including children — knelt beneath tall trees, trowels in hand, digging into the soft, damp earth to anchor the next generation of plants along the lake’s western edge.
Among those represented were the Flower District West Leederville, West Leederville Primary School P&C, Lake Monger Primary School, and Transition Town Vincent.
“This kind of work is practical, rewarding, and deeply needed,” said Maura Marshall, one of the key event organisers.
Friends chairperson Diana Blackie said the Town of Cambridge had played a big role in the program’s success.
“The Town has been supplying 5,000 native plants annually for several years and continues to assist with augured planting holes,” she said.
The restoration is about more than aesthetics — it’s about protecting water quality.
Pollutants
With 23 stormwater drains flowing into the lake, pollutants like fertiliser and road runoff regularly fuel algal blooms and threaten aquatic life.
Native vegetation helps absorb excess nutrients, reduce erosion, and filter runoff — providing a quiet but vital defence against ecological decline.
For George Crisp, a local resident of over 25 years and a medical practitioner, the lake is deeply personal.
“The lake is important to me — from pushing our kids around in prams, learning to ride bikes, watching seasonal changes and wildlife, to walking the dog several times a week,” Dr Crisp said.
“As a medical practitioner, I see Galup/Lake Monger and its surroundings as vital health infrastructure. Green and blue spaces offer profound mental health benefits.
“Of course, development, lighting, activity, noise and discarded plastics — compounded by a drying climate — all place the lake under growing pressure.”
by JENS KIRSCH