WA Coastal & Marine Network Forum 2025 | Communities, Coasts and Change
STATEWIDE STEWARDSHIP FOR RESILIENT COASTAL FUTURES.
On Monday 27 October, Line in the Sand attended the annual forum hosted by WA Coastal and Marine Network (WACMN), this year held at the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club.
After a beautiful Welcome to Country from Whadjuk Balardong Noongar woman Ingrid Ngoorlak Cumming, we were introduced to Carmen Elrick-Barr, Chair of WACMN, to present the forum’s themes and objectives. The desire to “work smarter, not harder” by connecting and sharing stories led to the theme of shared stewardship. However, while our coasts are changing, so must we in how we collaborate.
The forum aimed to address:
1. How the Coast is changing.
2. How is the community is adapting.
3. How can we together shape the change we’d like to see?
Ailbhe Travers, WACMN Network Manager, presented a video of environmental group stories and updates as a snapshot of the huge amount of work being undertaken on-ground.
CoastWA
To kick off Session 1 on Coastal Land Management, Vivienne Panizza, Planning Policy Manager for Strategy and Engagement, DPLH and Frederic Saint-Cast, Director Maritime Planning at the Department of Transport provided an update on CoastWA. With a vision of a sustainable coast for the long term benefit of the community and visitors to the state, CoastWA aims to implement a strategic response to coastal hazards. It has awarded over $2million in grant funding to 69 projects to date.
A 4WD Masterplan
Anthony Seymour from the Shire of Dandaragan presented on the Mid-West Coastal Recreational Track Masterplan, and managing the impact of vehicles in coastal environments north of Perth. Covering 230kms across the three shires of Coorow, Dandaragan and Gingin, the rapidly increasing numbers and competing uses has forced the need to balance the 4WD use of the coast with environmental impacts.
The project has seen significant challenges, including death threats and negative click-baiting on social media, which has hampered efforts to engage effectively with all stakeholders. Actions have included public consultation in the form of online surveys, desktop research and learning from the innovative Eyes on Eyre initiative in South Australia. Informative signage was also installed to guide use of the tracks.
Anthony pointed out that a major issue is that the lack of familiarity with the Land Administration Act and Regulations governing the use of Crown land.
Reconnecting to Country
An inspiring presentation from the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council Natural Resource Management (NACC NRM) followed, centring on Reconnecting to Country: Traditional Knowledge inspiring the coastal stewards of tomorrow.
Josh Burney, Kyiesha Ronan and Taj Mamid from the Reconnect to Country Program are aiming to address the issue of dwindling numbers of coastcare volunteers, by recruiting the next generation of coastcarers. Across the region from Kalbarri to Guilderton, the Reconnect to Country project is “designed to strengthen young people’s connection to land, local waterways, language, culture and community through immersive, hands on experiences, guided by Aboriginal knowledge and environmental care”. The project engages with schools through incursion/excursions, school curriculum resources and events honouring local heritage, as well as incorporating art to foster the connection to country.
The CNCE: “A Grassroots Project That Thinks Big!”
As an initiative close to our hearts, we were so pleased to listen to Mandy Polley from Nature Conservation Margaret River Region (NCMRR) and Cape Naturaliste Conservation Enterprise (CNCE) discuss the challenges and successes experienced by the CNCE to date. With 60% private land across the project, a mindset of collaboration and community building with landowners and other stakeholders has been integral to the project.
It was wonderful to hear about the project building momentum, while acknowledging that ongoing funding is required to ensure the continued success of the project.
Coral Devastation
Moving to a focus on the Sea Country for Session 2, SallyAnn Gudge and Richard Evans from DBCA presented on the devastating coral bleaching event over the summer of 2024/2025, where up to 90% bleaching was experienced at many locations north of Ningaloo.
Richard provided some helpful background on coral bleaching, explaining that coral is an animal. Algae lives within the coral and is expelled if stressed, through circumstances such as warming sea temperatures. The coral then loses their colour and becomes bleached; however this doesn’t mean that the coral is dead, as it can still feed, and importantly, is able to recover in improved conditions.
Through official surveys and reliable community data, including photographs, and the use of the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s (AIM’s) bleaching app, a better picture of the impact could be ascertained.
Women’s Business
Malgana woman Bianca McNeair provided insight into the importance of Aboriginal Women’s Knowledge in Caring for Country, in particular in the monitoring of loggerhead turtles in Shark Bay. She emphasized the vital need for leadership training for women, encouraging knowledge sharing with other women’s groups around the world, and elevating the voice of grassroots Aboriginal women caring for country. Her quote “Gentleness is not our vulnerability but our strength” certainly rings true to us.
A Case Study in Collaborative Effort
Chandra Salgado Kent, Professor in Wildlife and Ocean Conservation at ECU’s Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, described the huge collaborative effort undertaken to track Southern Right Whales.
As it is impossible for the research team to survey all regions, tracking is done in connection with the community through citizen science, and Aboriginal rangers, via an app or online. Images are uploaded to a national database and matched to other photos, to identify and track the movements of individual whales.
Sadly, the recovery of populations since the impact of whaling is not as fast as hoped, and has slowed in recent years. This project helps to establish a better understanding of numbers, and migration and breeding patterns of the Right Whale population.
Indigenous-Led Sea Grass Restoration
Michael Wear from Tidal Moon presented on Indigenous-led seagrass restoration in the Guthaaguda World Heritage Area. Tidal Moon was created to implement a culturally directed solution for the 2011/12 heatwave that destroyed 22% of seagrass in Shark Bay.
They built a model that allows Indigenous knowledge and western science to collaborate.
Coogee Beach Dune Rehabilitation
Session 3 incorporated presentations on the Coogee Beach Dune Rehabilitation with on-the-ground field learning via a group walk along the coast.
Chris Beaton from the City of Cockburn spoke about the CHRMAP (Coastal Hazard Risk Management Adaptation Plan), coastal protection measures such as artificial reefs and sand nourishment, and a coastal monitoring program through drones and an hourly photo from mounted cameras.
Dr Jeff Hansen from UWA Oceans Institute touched on beach morphology, and the need to incorporate knowledge of local coastal processes to make informed decisions about coastal management and restoration.
Cockburn Coastcare representative Craig Wilson explained specific elements of the restoration project such as brushwall installation, dune fencing, signage, native seedling planting, and weed control.
On the beach walk we learnt about the brushwall installation and the Australian native fruit quandong, and were lucky enough to watch ospreys in the tower nest.
Shared Stewardship
The afternoon brought an opportunity for a deep dive, with attendees choosing between three different focus topics. We attended the “Where to from here?” panel and workshop, addressing questions centred around stewardship and the top priorities of our community of practice right now.
Identified priorities included:
Targeting longer term funding to enable longer term projects/programs
Identifying shared, cross-regional, landscape-scale goals that help to remove silos
Building a collective voice to elevate need for clear State leadership
Considering holistic solutions that focus on cumulative impacts greater than the sum of the parts
Facilitating public ownership of issues through open and honest communication
Bringing together diverse thoughts/voices to reach non-aligned and break out of echo chamber
Facilitating open data (time, resources etc) access to encourage common capture parameters and sharing
To cap off the day’s proceedings, WACMN unveiled the upgraded version of Whirlpool, an online hub which will allow direct interaction between members of the coastal and marine community to ask questions, share insights and collaborate.
The forum offered a fascinating snapshot of diverse projects across the state addressing critical environmental challenges. It was a privilege to attend, learn from experts in so many fields, and be able to contribute to the conversations around collaborating for “resilient coastal futures”.