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Projects
Contact us if you would like to get involved or for further information.
Community Garden
Members of the Community Garden have installed wicking beds (for maximum water efficiency) and built a pole-gola with climbing plants. Various organisations have assisted us to plant our fruit forest, build a seating area, and install flowering beds and a sandpit for children. There are many more projects currently underway including:
We are a group of volunteers that love to chat all things gardening. We don't have any joining fees, and so all we ask is for you to come along and get involved. Our site, because it is bitumen, is accessible to most, and we welcome you to visit us at 41 Clarke Road, Margaret River.
Please check our
Margaret River Community Garden Facebook page
for updates and information. A blackboard on the Goods Shed has information on it for members, or please contact
for more details.
Bush Regeneration
The group produced a plan in 2016 which has been approved by the Augusta Margaret River Shire. Rehabilitation is based on the Bradley Method, manually removing weeds so that natives come back naturally. Watsonia versfeldii has been the main target with various other weeds being removed, slashed or mulched. Seed collection for broadcasting and germinating is progressing and replanting of endemic species continues.
You can download our Bushland Management Plan (13Mb PDF)
Clean-ups
We co-ordinate our own team for Clean Up Australia Day, with efforts going into litter removal along the Wadandi Track in town. Members assist in roadside clean-ups coordinated by the Shire from time to time.
Collaborations: Tangaroa Blue, DBCA, AMR Shire, Keep Australia Beautiful Council.
Forests and Bushland Protection
As part of our passion for protecting bushland we have participated in Community Reference Groups for the Margaret River Perimeter Road and also the Gracetown and Gnarabup Fire Access Roads. We have been active in the push for a Significant Tree Register within our Shire. Our group has voiced its opposition to prescribed burns and the widespread chemical spraying of our verges. We are continually approached by community members with concerns about clearing of native vegetation and use our network of contacts to obtain better outcomes for our local environment.
Dune Rehabilitation
Collaborations: Margaret River Coastal Residents Association, Nature Conservation Margaret River Region, Friends of Redgate Beach, DBCA, AMR Shire.
Margaret River Spirit of Place
Spirit of Place is a sub-group of MRREC, which aims to promote the higher conservation of the Margaret River. To date the group has researched the acquisition of Wallcliffe House, has petitioned to prevent intrusive pathways through the riparian zone and to protect areas of significance to the Wadandi.
Renewable Energy and Climate Action
As a Synergy customer you can sign up to a green energy option, which will support the continued investment in renewable energy sources and help to reduce Australia's carbon footprint. It costs a little more but you can offset the cost with energy saving measures. See these useful links for more information: MRREC is supportive of Augusta Margaret River Clean Community Energy who are planning a renewable energy facility. It is exciting to have a community driven project for our region. Visit www.facebook.com/AMRCCE/. Waste Reduction
Members also assist with a coffee cup wash-up station at the local markets to reduce the number of disposable coffee cups and plastic lids going to landfill.
Collaborations: Cape to Cape Plastic Free, Living Smart, Transition Margaret River, Augusta Margaret River Shire.
Hooded Plover Survey and Monitoring
Collaborations: Birdlife WA, DBCA
Safe Food Campaign
During the 2017 election campaign, the Labor party felt it was too late to make Western Australia GM free as GM canola is already growing throughout the agricultural regions. Instead they supported requiring insurance as this way there would be compensation for non GM farmers whose farming future could be totally disrupted when their farm is contaminated with GM. Now they are in government it is very important that we hold them to account. We urge everyone interested in eating GM free to contact the Minister, Alannah MacTiernan, and let her know we are watching. Social and Fundraising Events
We appreciate the support of venues/groups such as Fair Harvest, Margaret River Karate Club, Margaret River Organic Gardens, Margaret River Lions and Tingrith Meeting House, and look forward to holding events in our own premises in the relatively near future.
You can also have a look at our Past Projects |
The Margaret River Community Garden was initiated by the Margaret River Regional Environment Centre in 2015. An overall site plan was developed (see image), and over time members are transforming the bitumen hardstand into an edible garden and orchard.
The MRREC Bushland Restoration Group is working hard at our Environment Centre grounds. Volunteers are restoring the bush to health so that it is more valuable to wildlife and our community. The Group meets each Wednesday between 9 and 12; tools are provided along with morning tea.
Each year our members clean up a beach in our local Cape-to-Cape region. In 2016 we tackled a two kilometre stretch of Conto's Beach where approximately 18 kilograms of rubbish was collected. We even found a Hooded Plover nest! Interesting finds were four toothbrushes, a large fishing lure and a golf tee. Sadly there were 46 foam remnants, 112 rope scraps and 748 plastic pieces.
MRREC has lead numerous campaigns to stop native forest logging in our Shire. Most recently one of our sub-groups, 'Save Mowen Forest', raised $110,000 in pledges to buy Mowen Forest from the State Government. A cheque was offered to the Premier but he declined to accept it. We also raised more than $10,000 in funds to support protestors who faced fines after participating in non-violent direct action. Recently members were devastated to witness the ongoing destruction of nearby Barrabup and McCorkhill forests. We continue to work with WA Forest Alliance to gain support for their 'Forests for Life' campaign which details a brilliant plan to grow 50 million high value timber trees in conjunction with food production.
Every Thursday members meet with the Coastal Residents Association at Margaret River’s beaches for ongoing ground work to rehabilitate and protect the dunes.
A variety of activities including weeding, brushing, seed collecting, planting and rubbish removal is carried out. Efforts target beaches with high levels of tourist and resident usage to ensure that the dunes maintain a good cover of vegetation.
Margaret River has a unique spirit of place. The Wadandi people know the river as Wooditch: a magician or sorcerer who created it in an effort to win his sweetheart Milyan. For millenia the Wadandi have walked its banks. Now many others follow the winding ways of the river.
With global warming increasing, we are all getting on board to reduce fossil fuel use. Our Shire has a policy that encourages the installation of wind and solar energy systems. Shifting to renewable energy sources will lower greenhouse gas emissions, create local jobs and build sustainable communities.
MRREC has lobbied the Shire to eliminate single use plastic bags in our region. To help reduce the reliance on plastic bags, our members participate in sewing bees to make boomerang bags. These bags are freely available from shops in Margaret River to be borrowed and returned.
MRREC members have been involved with surveys of the threatened Hooded Plover for many years. Typically 19 to 35 birds are found from Cape Naturaliste to Augusta. Members are also involved in monitoring nest sites and chicks throughout nesting season (mainly summer). Major threats to the bird's breeding success are predation by gulls, ospreys, ravens, foxes, cats and dogs. When the chicks hatch they are flightless for 35 days and must forage for their own food at the shoreline.
Our "No GM Group" has been active, collecting signatures on a petition to require farmers growing genetically modified crops to contribute to insurance for non GM farmers against the possibility of contamination.
As we are mostly self-funded, we hold events throughout the year such as Green Drinks, sausage sizzles and film nights.
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Margaret River Regional Environment Centre Inc. 41 Clarke Road, Margaret River, Western Australia 6285 Email: |