Lotterywest supports ReWild Perth

ReWild Perth will support an innovative approach to increasing wildlife habitat throughout the Perth Metropolitan area.

Perth NRM is a highly respected for-purpose organisation working across sustainable agriculture and environmental management throughout the region, working with local, state and federal governments to protect, preserve and enhance our environment, and to empower people to positive ecological impact.

Perth NRM works with hundreds of volunteer organisations and land managers to undertake essential work in our public spaces, but the ReWild Perth program hopes to activate the community to enhance biodiversity values in the most private spaces — around our homes.

After extensive consultation over several years with experts and local institutions, Perth NRM introduced the Rewildperth.com.au online platform in January 2022, offering residents in the region a customised list of local plants that can support native animals, including endangered species such as the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, or displaced animals such as bilbys, woylies, chuditch and quenda.

The Lotterywest grant announced today by the Hon Reece Whitby MLA, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, at a small gathering at the Wildflower Pavilion in Kings Park, will support a community engagement program to make it easier than ever for residents throughout the region to make simple decisions that meaningfully support our unique and threatened ecosystem.

L-R: Gregory Bruyer (Clever Starfish), Dr Tegan Douglas (Birdlife Australia WA), Mich Ludwig (Kool Kreative), Dr Harriet Mills (Perth Zoo), Alan Barrett (Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority), Tom Widenbar (Perth NRM), thr Hon Reece Whitby MLA (Minister for Environment; Climate Change), Keith Pekin (Perth NRM), Luke McMillan (Perth NRM), Dr Nikki Miller (Lotterywest), Jason Pitman (BGPA), Hannah Gulliver (Perth NRM).

Comments for attribution.

Keith Pekin, Perth NRM CEO: “The ReWild Perth program has been developed by our staff out of a desire to see real change throughout our region, and to extend our reach beyond business-as-usual natural resource management. We know people are more concerned than ever about climate change, species loss and other environmental issues, and ReWild Perth gives people a great starting point for a journey to recovery, starting from their homes.”

Professor Kingsley Dixon FLS ATSE, John Curtin Distinguished Professor: “Rewilding where each and every household in Perth helps through planting the right tree and native species will mean we can all do our bit to halt the tide of species extinctions sweeping Australia. Together we can make a change, be engaged in protecting our species from extinction and be part of the solution to environmental degradation.”

Ralph Addis, Lotterywest and Healthway CEO: “Lotterywest is committed to supporting organisations to protect and restore ecosystems and endangered species. The ReWild Perth program provides an innovative way for the WA community to play their part in enhancing biodiversity throughout the Perth Metropolitan area.”

TALKING POINTS

• The Lotterywest grant will provide resources for:
  • more than 50 community events and workshops, encouraging the general public to create urban biodiversity in their gardens, balconies or courtyards and engage with urban conservation.
  • publicly accessible demonstration gardens in Bentley that the public can access for inspiration on design principles and plant species.
  • new resources and improvements for the ReWild Perth online platform.
  • the creation of a ‘Think Tank’ of local institutions and experts to advise on the future development of the program.
• The Perth Metropolitan Area is the only Australian city within an internationally recognised ‘biodiversity hotspot’, which recognises;
  • the region must be home to a substantial number of endemic species (>1,500). Endemic means native to a specific region, which also means these regions represent irreplaceable habitat, due to unique species or unique combinations of species.
  • the region must be under significant environmental threat, with no less that 70% of the natural habitat already removed, with the remaining 30% under threat.
• “There are over 810,000 private dwellings and 32,000km of local urban road verges in Perth[1]. If only 1% of local road verges were converted from lawn to a habitat garden and 1% private dwellings installed a banksia, a birdbath or a bee hotel, this could provide an additional 100 hectares and 8,100 new points of habitat scattered across the metro area, providing very valuable connections between remnant vegetation.” Perth NRM, 2019.
• The ReWild Perth online platform (rewildperth.com.au) was developed in partnership with Birdlife Australia (WA) through funding from Lotterywest.
• The online platform offers information on almost 200 plant species, and a further 200 animal species (birds, bees, insects, reptiles and marsupials) that can benefit from the creation of urban habitat. The site also offers information on ‘novel’ (man-made) habitat structures for these animals.
• Perth NRM is working with the Water Corporation to ensure plant species are aligned with the Waterwise program. The Water Corporation is also a sponsor of the program.