Southern Forests Community Landcare celebrates World Wetlands Day with seminar featuring local experts

In a bid to share its expertise, an environment group based in Manjimup has launched a series of low-cost information sessions, with the first landing on World Wetlands Day in early February. Southern Forests Community Landcare celebrated the international day on February 2 by hosting a range of speakers knowledgeable on the Lake Muir-Byenup wetlands. The 10,000ha wetlands system is Ramsar listed and holds international significance, which Kathy Dawson from SFCL feels is not widely known. “Many people are blissfully unaware of the size, nature and significance of the systems, or the threats to the biodiversity in and around the lakes,” Ms Dawson said. Department of Biosecurity, Conservation and Attractions regional wildlife officer Ian Wheeler, renowned photographer John Austin — who has documented the damage to the local wetlands — and South West Natural Resource Management project officer Jane Putland were among the speakers at the event. Ms Dawson said the 34 attendees offered input at various points, making for an interactive and educational session both for the audience and for SFCL. “SFCL will seek capacity to work with farmers and other stakeholders in their efforts to rehabilitate and protect this important landscape,” she said. Ms Dawson said the sessions were good opportunities for the committee to receive direct input from community members on strategic priorities. “What we are seeking to do is to conduct low-cost informative sessions on a range of locally relevant topics to increase awareness and engagement with the local (and wider) community,” she said. “We are focusing on exploiting our local expertise. “There are many very knowledgeable and talented people in our community who deserve due recognition.”