A total of 22 community groups have been awarded $281,240 in grants this year to deliver 53 projects that will help conserve bushland and waterways in the Swan, Canning and surrounding catchments.
Now in its 24th year, the Swan Alcoa Landcare Program (SALP) is a successful partnership program between the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), Alcoa of Australia, Perth NRM, Burswood Park Board, local government and the community.
The program has provided $9.8 million in funds to more than 1,500 catchment restoration projects that have engaged thousands of people and contributed over 233,000 volunteer hours.
Volunteers have planted more than 2.9 million plants to revegetate more than 3,000 hectares of land; controlling weeds on more than 7,000 hectares of land; and erecting nearly 6,000 kilometres of fencing to protect remnant vegetation and riparian areas.
These conservation outcomes have been made possible through the long-term and ongoing commitment of Alcoa and the Burswood Park Board.
DBCA Rivers and Estuaries Manager Glen McLeod-Thorpe said the program was a fantastic way to assist community groups that share a focus on protecting the environment.
"SALP has consistently delivered on the program's original intent to restore local bushland and waterways which has increased habitat for our local species and improved the amenity of public spaces,” he said.
"This program stands as a model of success and it continues to flourish in a time when partnerships between government, industry and community are key to protecting the State's unique environment."
Community groups sharing among the $281,240 in funding from the latest round include:
• Friends of Lake Claremont for hand weeding to support revegetation at Lake Claremont
• Friends of Bennett Brook to improve biodiversity and water quality in the Bennett Brook Reserve
• Swan Estuary Reserves Action Group working to recover Pelican Point for beach-nesting birds
• Friends of Maylands Samphires for restoration of the Maylands samphire saltmarsh threatened ecological community
• Friends of Lightning Swamp Bushland for dieback treatment at Lightning Swamp Bushland
• Chittering Landcare Group rehabilitating Chittering Reserves Stage 3
• Ellen Brockman Integrated Catchment Group for waterway rehabilitation in the Brockman River/Ellen Brook catchment
• North Swan Land Conservation District Committee for building biodiversity in Bullsbrook
• Wannamal Lake Catchment Group for revegetation of waterways and corridors in Bindoon and Wannamal
• Friends of Lion Mill for restoration of Lion Mill Creek in Mount Helena
• Friends of John Forrest National Park for weed control along Railway Reserve Heritage Trail in John Forrest National Park
• Friends of Boya Trail to protect and rehabilitate bush and wetlands along the Boya Trail
• Jane Brook Catchment Group for weed control along the Heritage Trail between Sexton Street and Stoneville Road
• Lower Helena Association to deliver the lower Helena River wetland restoration project
• Friends of Falls Park to work in the riparian zone of Jane Brook to restore wildlife habitat
• Friends of Susannah Brook Reserve for revegetation of wetlands around Lake Three, Susannah Brook
• Friends of Reserve Rd Foreshore for post fire recovery of Reserve Rd Foreshore
• Bannister Creek Catchment Group for maintaining corridors in the Bannister Creek catchment
• Friends of Paganoni Swamp for maintaining reserve edge resilience through weed control at Paganoni Swamp
• South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare to enhance the biodiversity conservation values of the Yule Brook palusplain and sumpland
• Friends of Mary Carroll Wetlands for restoration of Mary Carroll Wetlands
• Armadale Gosnells Landcare Group for restoration of the Upper Canning, Southern and Wungong catchment area
