BoorYul-Bah-Bilya, Djurrinj Newsletter, Issue 7
 Djurrinj Issue 7 – April 2026 Kaya Wanjoo to Djurrinj, the newsletter of our BoorYul-Bah-Bilya (BBB) program! Through BBB, we are creating a new model of river catchment management to mark the 2029 Perth Bicentenary. We are aiming to: Restore natural ecosystemsReinvigorate cultural heritageStrengthen communities through reconnection with riversEstablish a framework to inspire the revival of all rivers BBB is currently focused on the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment, which includes Mundaring, Kalamunda, Swan, York, Beverley and Northam, but we hope to create a transferable model that can be applied to any river. We’ve been busy and have exciting news to share! Launch of the BBB Rangers Team  We’re excited to announce the launch of the BBB Rangers in April 2026! The BBB Rangers will play an important role in caring for the natural and cultural values of the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment and supporting its long‑term health and resilience. This marks a major milestone for both our organisation and the river. The rangers will focus on improving ecosystem health, protecting and enhancing cultural values, and strengthening community connection to the river through education and events. A key priority will be restoring the lower river through as part of our Mandoon Bilya Riverpark initiative. The team will provide employment and career pathways in land and water management for local Aboriginal people, with a strong focus on Noongar rangers. Their activities will support development of the BBB model while helping to strengthen Noongar culture, language and traditions. The rangers will also work with community groups, businesses, schools and universities to build a shared journey of caring for the river. If you’re involved in landcare along the river and haven’t yet connected with us to explore how we could support your project, we’d love to hear from you! The BBB Rangers are proudly supported by the National Indigenous Australians Agency through to June 2028. Community Rivercare Round 9 Grant  We’re delighted to have received a Community Rivercare grant from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. The funding will support restoration of a section of the lower Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) in Midland and Hazelmere, near Whiteman Road. This area is heavily impacted by weeds, bank erosion and fly‑tipping, with degraded riparian vegetation and a largely cleared floodplain. Despite these pressures, it remains an important freshwater system with strong potential for restoration and community reconnection. Our recent surveys of the lower river recorded long‑necked turtles, gilgies, three local fish species and the threatened Carter’s freshwater mussel (Westralunio carteri), highlighting the area’s high conservation value. The grant will enable weed removal and revegetation of the foreshore to restore habitat for birds and other wildlife, reduce riverbank erosion and improve local water quality. Our BBB Rangers will help deliver the project with community stakeholders and volunteers. If you’d like to be involved, we’d love to hear from you! DPLH PPPOAS Grants  We’ve been really busy delivering two important projects funded through the Preserve, Protect and Promote our Aboriginal Sites grant program by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage. The funding has supported the protection of two significant cultural heritage sites on Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) and Nyaania Creek. The grants have allowed us to remove woody weeds and revegetate with local plant species. Sadly, the Nyaania Creek site was devastated by the February 2026 bushfire, which destroyed the new seedlings. Despite this setback, we are committed to the long-term restoration of this important place, and are encouraged by the new growth returning with the rains. We’ve also really enjoyed collaborating with local artist Daniel Iley to design and install dual-naming signage, construct steps to reduce erosion and improve safe access, and create custom wooden benches that celebrate the stories and significance of each site. The benches will be installed soon, and we hope they encourage people to pause and reflect on the cultural and natural importance of these places. If you’re out and about and see the signs or benches, we hope they invite you to stop and appreciate the magic of the river. River Mapping and Sampling  We recently mapped the presence of permanent water across the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment at the end of Bunuru, the hottest and driest season. Rainfall across Noongar Boodja has declined by15-20% since the 1970s, but river flows have declined by 70–80%, making permanent freshwater sources rare and critical habitat. The mapping identified key aquatic refuges that support plants and animals through the long dry summer, including permanent river pools and a section of the river that is fed by groundwater and flows year-round. Mapping these refuges will help us to prioritise conservation efforts and protect threatened species from the impacts of climate change. We also revisited 90+ eDNA sites that we sampled in Kambarang, the start of the dry season (Oct/Nov 2025), and resampled any water that remained. This work will support our biodiversity baseline of the catchment. The eDNA analysis was proudly supported by Lotterywest and the Centre for People, Place and Planet at Edith Cowan University. BBB Schools Program  We’ve been developing a BBB Schools Program, which aims to introduce students to the broad concepts of culture, community, and Country. As part of this work, BNAA Board Member Lucy Arnall has been working with Helena River Waldorf School in Hazelmere to explore the importance of caring for Country and for each other. Lucy has been yarning, singing, storytelling, and teaching the children how to listen to Country, including learning about the significance of the school’s location on the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River). The activities are designed to deepen the children’s connection to place and increase understanding of Noongar culture. Lucy has also spent time with the students’ parents, sharing the on‑Country learning and reinforcing the importance of listening and walking together. We hope to open the program to other schools soon, so if you’d like us to visit your school, we’d love to hear from you! Perth Hills Quokka Monitoring  Did you know quokkas live in the forests outside Perth?We are monitoring these mainland quokkas to better understand their population dynamics, behaviour and response to bushfires. Quokkas were once widespread across Noongar Boodja, but they are now listed as a threatened species under State and Commonwealth legislation. In the 1920s, quokkas were often considered a pest and were hunted and poisoned. Since the 1930s, their numbers have declined dramatically due to land clearing, introduced predators such as foxes, and fire. Today, one of the biggest ongoing threats is habitat destruction due to mining by companies such as Alcoa, South32, and Newmont. While quokkas have been studied extensively on Wadjemup (Rottnest Island), research on mainland quokkas is limited.Thanks to a grant from Bendigo Community Bank Mundaring, we now have 10 quokka cameras across the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment, and recently expanded our monitoring program into new areas. This work will help to inform actions to protect and restore quokka habitat in the Perth Hills and support the long-term recovery of this iconic species. Karak Monitoring  It’s amazing to be working with Simon Cherriman of The Re-Cyc-Ology Project / iNSiGHT Ornithology to monitor karaks (Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoos) in the Perth Hills. These beautiful birds are so precious but they face many threats, including land clearing, competition for nests with feral bees and parrots like galahs and corellas, and road strike. One of the biggest threats is bauxite mining, which is devastating the northern jarrah forest. BirdLife WA have warned that black cockatoos are likely to become extinct if Alcoa’s proposed expansion goes ahead. We are working with Simon to help map karak nesting trees and habitat in the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment, and fit karak chicks with leg-bands to collect information on their movements and survival. Later this year, our BBB Rangers will be doing lots of work to locate and monitor significant karak nest sites.This work will support our biodiversity baseline of the catchment and help us develop a long-term plan to support these incredible birds. Note, this work was carried out as part of a licensed, ongoing research project led by Ron Johnstone of Boola Bardip (WA Museum). Hazelmere Data Centre Objection  We are deeply concerned about a giant hyperscale AI data centre proposed to be built just 40 metres from the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River), a conservation wetland, and on an Aboriginal heritage site in Hazelmere. The proposal is fundamentally flawed (read our submission): Incompatible with the site’s zoning and planning controls.Dependent on non-existent infrastructure e.g. sewerage and power.Missing information on wastewater, stormwater and foreshore plans.Lacking assessment of emissions impacts such as light and heat.Unprecedented scale (23+ m high) would dominate the landscape.The 24/7 data centre would consume up to 538 million litres of water a year (at an average rate), and enough power for 60,000–90,000 homes.The developer (GreenSquareDC) doesn’t own the land, and the application contains basic errors, like repeatedly referring to “Henley River”. Data centres are not a recognised land-use category in WA, so the proposal is being assessed as a warehouse, despite being very different. Community opposition is strong, including the adjacent Helena River Waldorf School and Trillion Trees, and a petition with 4,130+ signatures. The proposal has also drawn criticism from the Mineral Policy Institute, who have formally objected on the basis of mining governance principles. Data centres belong in appropriately serviced urban or industrial areas. If approved, this would be the first data centre in WA to be built on the banks of a river and a conservation wetland, and without sewerage or a viable wastewater solution, setting an extremely dangerous precedent. The future is uncertain. While the site is in the City of Swan, the planning decision will be made by a Development Assessment Panel (DAP) which includes two Swan Councillors (Congerton and Henderson). We are awaiting the City’s Responsible Authority Report, after which the DAP hearing will be set. We understand this may occur in May 2026. BNAA have written to the Premier, various Ministers and MPs seeking their attention to this matter. You may also wish to do the same. Alcoa Update  We’re pleased that Alcoa has temporarily shelved its plans for the Perth Hills in response to significant community and local government feedback.Huge thanks to all who made a submission and to the local governments who stood strong with the community in a powerful and unified objection. Alcoa has removed the Mundaring Weir catchment from its2023–2027 mining plan, however, they have not permanently excised it from their lease, and may attempt to reintroduce it in future plans beyond 2027. In February, Alcoa was fined $55 million for illegally clearing 2,100 hectares of jarrah forest between 2019 and 2025. Rather than a court-imposed fine, this is an enforceable undertaking that requires Alcoa to fund ecological restoration and offsets – activities they should arguably be funding anyway. Despite these breaches, the federal government also granted Alcoa an 18‑month “national interest” exemption, allowing “unlimited land clearing” to continue while an assessment is undertaken.In March, thousands flooded the streets of Perth with passion and love for Country at March for Forests. Huge thanks to everyone who stood up for our forests, and to Paddy Cullen for organising a brilliant event on behalf of the Bob Brown Foundation. The message was clear: There is no justification for mining in drinking water catchments.Record fines are not worth the extreme risk to our water and health.Mining should not be allowed to push black cockatoos to extinction. What’s Next? Following a record 59,000 submissions, the EPA’s first‑ever public review of Alcoa’s operations is still underway, with findings expected mid to late 2026.Alcoa is seeking a major expansion to clear 11,000 hectares of jarrah forestin addition to the 28,000 hectares already cleared. BirdLife WA has warned that black cockatoos will likely become extinct if this is approved. Alcoa is still mining our drinking water catchments and reservoir protection zones, and now want to build a pipeline to extract our drinking water direct from Serpentine Dam. We’re calling for permanent protection of all drinking water catchments:Ban mining in drinking water catchments – phased retreat.Revise old Alcoa State Agreements to align with today’s standards.Develop an exit strategy to transition workers into other industries.The Legislative Council e‑Petition on Alcoa closes on 29 April 2026. Other News  Mandoon Bilya in 1905,copyright State Library of Western Australia Our Chairperson (Walter McGuire) and Executive Director (Francesca Flynn) had a great time presenting at the WA Wetlands Conference in February 2026. We met so many inspiring people and loved hearing about all the incredible work being done. Our Executive Director enjoyed presenting at the UWA School of Law Water Resources Law short course in April 2026. Thank you to Prof. Alex Gardner for the invitation to discuss the laws and policy framework that underpins management of the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment. Insights from this will help shape the development of our BBB Community Catchment Plan over the next 12 months. We’ve finalised our first BNAA Business Plan (2025-2029), which will guide our operations, performance management and risk management over the next four years. The development of this plan was proudly supported by Lotterywest.A huge thank you to Ballardong Aboriginal Corporation for inviting us to spend time together on Country in the Mandoon Bilya catchment in February. It was a great opportunity to share knowledge, explore collaboration opportunities, and plan ways that the BBB Rangers and BAC Rangers can work together for the benefit of Country.We have set up a Containers for Change account! To donate your containers, use member number C11616605.We have created an iNaturalist account to document some of the amazing plants and animals living in the Mandoon Bilya catchment.  Support Us at EOFY Through the BBB Program, our team is helping to heal the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment by restoring degraded waterways, protecting cultural values and reconnecting people with Country. We’re also working towards something big: the creation of the Mandoon Bilya Riverpark – a shared natural landscape that will transform Perth’s eastern suburbs and protect the river for generations to come. While grants support this work, community donations are essential to:Expand river restoration and care for Country.Deliver education and community programs.Progress planning for the Mandoon Bilya Riverpark.Every contribution helps turn our vision into reality. You can support the BBB Program by: Donate via PayID on online banking: [email protected]Include your email in the reference for a tax receipt. Donations over $2 are tax deductible.Containers for Change: Member No. C11616605Thank you. Together, we can create a living legacy for our community.  If you’d like to share information about the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment with us, we’d love to hear from you! Email [email protected]Help shape our BBB Community Catchment Plan by completing our survey: Complete our survey Thank you for being part of our journey! Boordawan,BoorYul-Bah-Bilya Team Visit our website You’ve received this email because we think you’re an important stakeholder for the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) catchment or because you’ve contributed to our work in some way. You can unsubscribe at any time. PO Box 237 Subiaco, 6904 Australia |