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Moore Catchment Council announced as finalist for National Landcare Awards

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Adam PoulsenCountryman
Yued Elder Fred Mogridge with Allocasuarina campestris (Tamma) seedlings during rehabilitation works at a disused gravel pit on a farm near Moora.
Camera IconYued Elder Fred Mogridge with Allocasuarina campestris (Tamma) seedlings during rehabilitation works at a disused gravel pit on a farm near Moora. Credit: Supplied/Moore Catchment Council

Moore Catchment Council and Moora’s Yued Aboriginal community have been named joint finalists in the National Landcare Awards for their combined efforts to revegetate degraded farmland.

The group is in the running to scoop the Australian Government Partnerships for Landcare Award after claiming the State gong at last year’s WA Landcare Awards.

MCC has provided paid work opportunities for Moora’s Yued community since 2011, including weed and rubbish removal, native seed collection, and planting projects across the shires of Dandaragan, Gingin and Moora.

MCC community Landcare coordinator Rachel Walmsley said revegetation efforts were mostly focused on private farmland, with teams also cleaning up culturally significant government-owned land reserves.

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“Lots of farms have old sand pits or gravel pits that are disused and doing nothing, and that’s where we come along,” she said.

“Inland, it’s always farmland... then we do a little bit of revegetation on Shire lands too, especially out on the coast.”

As a not-for-profit organisation, MCC relies on government grants, including those allocated through the State National Resource Management Program.

“We don’t automatically get money; I have to sit and write all those grant applications,” Ms Walmsley said. “For every grant application, I always put in money to get (the Yued community) involved.”

Fred Mogridge, left, and Deb Indich sort native seedlings for the Yued planting team during rehabilitation works at an old sand pit on a farm near Moora.
Camera IconFred Mogridge, left, and Deb Indich sort native seedlings for the Yued planting team during rehabilitation works at an old sand pit on a farm near Moora. Credit: Suppled/Moore Catchment Council

The Yued region includes the towns of Leeman, Jurien Bay, Cervantes, Two Rocks, Toodyay, Gingin, Calingiri, Dalwallinu, Coorow and Moora.

Yued Elder Fred Mogridge — who has worked extensively with the MCC and was last year named Moora Shire’s Citizen of the Year — said the partnership had provided participants with a sense of pride and purpose.

“By replanting the seeds that we picked before... they see the progress of their determination,” he said.

“I can speak for all of them: they really enjoyed it... and I still enjoy it as well, going out bush.

“It’s a good opportunity for them to get into meaningful employment, and I feel really proud of them.”

Landcare Australia chief executive Shane Norrish said all eight finalists had achieved “significant outcomes” in restoring, protecting or enhancing their local environment.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Sydney on August 24.

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