Celebrating our Coasties

The Education and Engagement Award recognises two Perth NRM Coastal + Marine flagship programs, the Coastal Capacity Building Program and the Adopt A Beach educational program.

The Adopt A Beach program uses metropolitan beaches as outdoor learning spaces, providing students access to curriculum-linked, practical activities promoting coastal conservation. The program has had more than 60 school engagements, with more than 7,500 students since its inception in 2019.

The Community Capacity Building Program is designed to support community groups and environmental volunteers with the opportunity to improve their skills and encourage peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. This has included workshops and on-site field trips exploring coastal restoration and ecosystem functions, flora and fauna ID, coastal planning, management and more.

As an organisation with a regional focus, Perth NRM’s Coastal + Marine programs allows greater engagement and participation for individual groups and volunteers with landscape-scale thinking aligned with the West Australian Government’s WA Coastal Zone Strategy (2021) and the Perth NRM Regional Coastal Strategy.

In addition to the community and engagement values of these programs, this work also delivers on-ground outcomes, including the planting of 16,000 seedlings into restoration sites and the removal of at least 400 kilograms of marine debris from Perth’s beaches.

Perth NRM would like to thank it’s staff, past and present, for the crucial role they have played in developing and sustaining these programs.

Pictured above [L-R]: Isabella Streckhardt (Adopt A Beach), Kate Sputore (Coastal + Marine Program Manager), Vanessa McGuiness (Coastal + Marine Program Coordinator), Dr Bruce Hegge (Perth NRM Chair).

Partners

We acknowledge and appreciate the support of all our partners, supporters, funding bodies and sponsors.