Merry Christmas NRPG Members and Interested. Here’s the Conservation Councils Newsletter.

Don’t forget the Wilderness Society rally Saturday 9 Dec 5:30-8:30pm at Parliament House to show your support to end mining in our forests permanently.

 See Link   https://wilderness.nationbuilder.com/wa_end_forest_mining_rally_23

Best Wishes of The Season.

Clive

Hi Clive, and welcome to the CCWA Monthly Newsletter for November – the CCWA team has had an action-packed month filled with events, actions and more as you will see below!

Celebrating the Community Conservation Awards  Environment and conservation groups from across Western Australia gathered in Fremantle for CCWA’s 29th Annual Community Conservation Awards. The winners were announced last Thursday 30 November as part of an evening of celebrations recognising the contributions of groups and individuals to environmental conservation.  The 2023 awards were once again staged in the picturesque surrounds of the Kidogo Art House in Fremantle and attended by many CCWA member groups from across the state.  Hosted by CCWA, these important awards recognise the contribution of organisations, businesses, campaigners and volunteers in the fields of conservation, climate and environmental protection.  CCWA’s highest accolade is the Bessie Rischbieth Conservation Award, named in honour of Australian social activist and pioneer of the conservation movement in WA who famously entered the Swan River to block bulldozers during construction of the Narrows Bridge. It is presented to an individual who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the WA environment, who has had the courage to challenge government and non-government decision makers.   Judy Blyth, was this year’s winner, recognising her exceptional contribution to conservation in WA. Judy has been crafting banners for a range of activist events, that cover the environment, peace or social justice themes for decades. Many of Judy’s works are archived and contribute to a rich collection of history in the State Library of WA.  Judy’s courage, creativity, perseverance, and commitment across the full gamut of environmental issues is legendary and her commitment to the environment undeniable.  The other award winners this year were:  Dr. Nic Dunlop Conservation Science Award – Erin Clitheroe  John Oldham Conservation Employee Award – Casey Woodward The Len Howard Community Group Award – Nature Conservation Margaret River   Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award – Dirty Clean Food   Outstanding Volunteer Award – Boyd Rowe  Young Environmentalist Award – Emma Heyink  And finally, joining this year’s CCWA Honours List were Dr. Kelly Duckworth, Heidi Tait and Paul Goonting.  Congratulations to all the very deserving award winners. Thank you to all staff, member groups and volunteers for their contribution to WA conservation over the past 12 months – thank you for making an important difference!  Annual General Meeting and ExCo Appointments On Saturday 18 November, CCWA held their Annual General Meeting. Thank you to all who attended in-person or online and represented member groups. During the AGM, we heard from then Interim-President Sophie McNeil, CCWA program managers from the Fossil Fuels, Better Climate, Citizen Science, the Submissions team. Along with several member groups that presented about their work; the Urban Bushland Council, Nuclear Free WA and the Wetlands Conservation Society. CCWA also held elections for their Executive Committee. We would like to thank the departing interim office holders for all their hard work, particularly over the last few months. We are pleased to announce our 2023/24 Executive Committee as follows: · Dr. Richard Yin (President) · Dr. Giz Watson (Vice President) · Heather Lonsdale (Honorary Treasurer) · Tim Barling (Honorary Secretary) · Adrian Barrett · Dr. Felicity Bairstow · Jessie Parrish · Dr. Sato Juniper · Sophie McNeill · Tim Clifford CCWA x Coldplay The CCWA team was invited to attend the incredible Coldplay Music of the Sphere’s concerts in Perth at Optus Stadium on 18-19th November, along with Global Citizen and Orange Sky (organisations that were each hand selected by the band to highlight the great work they are doing). The CCWA team and volunteers were set-up outside of Optus Stadium on both evenings to raise awareness for their multiple campaigns, showcasing the great work being done and educating the public about the urgent need to protect WA’s natural environment and keep our climate safe. Coldplay were recently listed in the TIME100 Most Influential Climate Leaders, driving business to real climate action. The CCWA team were thrilled to have inspiring global leaders like Coldplay to help us promote and share our work – a particular highlight was when Chris Martin gave a shout out to CCWA across the packed stadium! It was certainly an unforgettable weekend and a fantastic opportunity to share our work. All I want for Christmas….is a flourishing environment and a safe climate valued by everyone! If like us, your only Christmas wish is to see better outcomes for our natural world, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support CCWA’s efforts to protect WA’s unique environment. Your support this Christmas can make a tangible difference in the fight against climate change. By contributing to CCWA, you are directly investing in crucial initiatives that safeguard Western Australia’s beautiful biodiversity and mitigate the effects of climate change – opposing destructive fossil fuel projects and advocating for a transition to renewable energy sources. Your generosity supports a vision of a Western Australia that is not only environmentally sustainable but also economically vibrant. Donate now!

Cheers to Nature! CCWA’s Christmas Wine Fundraiser!

This festive season, elevate your celebrations with our Christmas Wine Fundraiser – providing you the opportunity to stock up on all your wine needs before the festivities commence, whilst also supporting the work of CCWA. We’ve partnered with WA Cellars to offer some excellent wines, from robust reds to crips whites, all branded with special CCWA labels – proceeds from every bottle sold will support our team to carry out important work protecting the unique ecosystems of WA and fighting to keep our climate safe. Click here to browse the curated selection available and make your order. Let’s all raise a glass for nature, conservation and a greener tomorrow!

On behalf of the entire team at CCWA – thank you for all of your wonderful support this year, we wish you a safe and happy festive season!

Annual Report

The 2023 CCWA Annual Report outlines CCWA’s activities throughout the last financial year, highlighting organisational and program successes, events, membership updates, finances and impact. Click below to take a look!

Programs updates

Fossil Fuels The Fossil Fuels team has been pursuing multiple avenues to ramp up the pressure to stop Woodside’s North West Shelf extension from gaining approval – a proposal a part of the Burrup Hub gas project including supporting actions, holding stalls, coordinating open letters, requesting meetings and supporting ongoing member/group campaigns. The latest action supported by the Go Beyond Gas movement was School Strike 4 Climate WA’s climate strike on the 17th November where those involved wanted to make it clear to our leaders that we need climate justice now! The group of approximately 150 supporters took to the streets, marching from Woodside to the Energy Transition Summit at the Perth Convention Centre where our state government officials and fossil fuel company executives were discussing the future of energy in WA. Fossil Fuel community organisers Binu and Victoria held a stall at the Jacaranda Festival on Sunday 18th November, where they promoted the Go Beyond Gas movement engaging with the public to create origami animals – whales and turtles – representing the Scott Reef being under threat from the Burrup Hub expansion plans. This stall resulted in 90 new supporters for the movement. In other news, the team have been coordinating an open letter from Scientists calling on the Environment Minister to reject the North West Shelf extension – if you are researcher or a scientist and would like more information or to sign on yourself, please reach out to [email protected] Our local groups reached out to their MP’s to request meetings and highlight their concerns with Woodside’s Burrup Hub, whilst Anna Chapman, Fossil Fuel Program Manager just recently returned from Canberra as part of the WA climate delegation, met with Federal MP’s and outlined the impacts on WA’s unique environment being truly significant from the damage to Scott Reef, to the worsening effects on climate change on WA’s precious ecosystem. The delegates were pictured with MP’s which landed on the front-page of The West Australian on Friday increasing awareness and putting added pressure on Minister Whitby to reject the proposal.

Better Climate November has brought with it a renewed mandate and focus on research, collaboration, and policy influencing in the Better Climate team. We are currently working on a policy report which we will launch in the new year.   To help make that happen, we are collaborating with industry, peak bodies, government, and communities. The team has attended multiple events and meetings with numerous stakeholders, including Urban Bushland Council, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Greening Australia, the Wilderness Society, Doctors for the Environment, Climate Action Network Australia, Sustainable Energy Now, Greenpeace, WWF, WAFA, Environment House representatives in Bayswater, Jubilee, Zenith Energy, Peel Development Commission, Peel Harvey Catchment Council, and Sustainable Homes. We have attended forums with MPs and Minister for Environment Reece Whitby, and are currently organising meetings with Stantec, Collgar Renewables, Winds With Purpose, WGA, C-Wise, Murray Engineering, and others.   We’ve also been busy behind the scenes, with two of our team members joining the CEDA WA Energy Transition Summit last Friday. See our comments here. In addition to this, Better Climate attended the National Environmental Law Association conference on ‘Intersecting Crises of Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss’, ANU Solar Oration 2023, the Australia Institute Economics of Gas workshop, A Plastic Free Australia with Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, ANU Energy Update 2023, Chris Bowen’s Annual Climate Change Statement, Dawesville Environment Forum with Reece Whitby, Kate Chaney Community Catchup, and SEN – Kwinana Industrial Area Wind Farms and Thermal Storage Projects.   The team has also been involved in several joint advocacy groups and roundtable discussions including Renewable Energy Industry Precincts, Decommissioning Network, Green Steel Manufacturing and Recycling Group, WA Advocacy in Support of Australian Renewable Energy Package, and Federal Grassroots Climate Advocates.

Last month we ran several bat monitoring events in the Perth metropolitan area including setting up bat transects in local areas for citizen scientists, began establishing the WA Bat Network to be launched in January 2024, along with wrapping up our Dusk Watch pilot concluding at the end of this month. The WA Bat Network will be formed with help from Wirambi Landcare, aiming to increase awareness of bat research projects and advocating for bat conservation by increasing community awareness and collectively identifying and reporting on the threatening processes that affect our precious bat species. If you’re interested in getting involved or joining the network’s organising group, please email – [email protected] or join our facebook group.  In Penguin news, we’re continuing to implement some of the initiatives set out in the Climate Adaption Strategy for the Little Penguins program – These initiatives include vegetation surveys, installing temperature loggers in nest boxes and setting up water bath cooling stations (cooling penguins in our warming climate). Please email [email protected] if you would like to get involved with future penguin volunteering activities. In other news, our Dusk Watch pilot is wrapping up, ending on the 30th November – where we will be looking over the results and feedback in the coming months to see how to develop this program going forward. Thanks to our volunteers and citizen scientists who have taken part in surveys and activities, provided feedback and played a huge role in the development and shaping of our monitoring programs.

Upcoming Events

Native Sandalwood Conservation Briefing and Action Meeting The Native Sandalwood Conservation Briefing and Action Meeting, which will take place on Tuesday 5 December 2023, 10:00am – 11.30am at the Conservation Council of WA building, 1186 Hay Street, West Perth. We hope to see as many of our members there as possible!

News & Media

Peak body welcomes WA government spending to support renewable energy, but concern as Premier reaffirms fossil fuel support The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has welcomed an announcement that $708 million will be spent to upgrade WA’s power grid to pave the way for new large-scale renewable energy projects, but expressed its concern over comments made in support of the continued use of gas. The WA Premier, Roger Cook, unveiled the plan this morning, saying that ‘there is no energy transition without better transmission’. He told attendees at the Energy Transition Summit in Perth that the announcement represented the “largest investment in transmission infrastructure in WA in more than ten years”.  “Growing our electricity network is critical to unlocking our renewable energy potential – to reduce our own emissions, and to help countries across the region reduce theirs”, he said.

Premier; stop defending fossil fuels! Why Western Australia must stop new gas and become a renewable energy superpower Western Australia is at a critical moment, with two very different pathways lying ahead. With some of the best solar, wind and critical mineral resources in the world, we are perfectly placed to transform our economy into a renewable energy superpower. WA can be a world leader in exporting renewable energy, critical minerals required for renewable energy, and zero-emissions products. Our state can lead a new, national, ‘green resources boom,’ learning from the mistakes of the past and recognising that there is an ecological limit to extractivism. Extractive industry practices must be grounded in social, environmental and climate justice. The transition to renewables must ensure strong protection of the state’s unique biodiversity and ecosystems, and respect for the communities on Country.

CCWA respectfully acknowledges the Whadjuk People of the Noongar nation, along with the Traditional Owners of all Countries where it works. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. CCWA seeks to always walk alongside our Aboriginal partners, recognising their continued connection through land, sea, culture and community.