Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I take the opportunity to commend the work of a dedicated group of conservation volunteers, the Friends of the Porongurup Range. I was recently invited to unveil a commemorative plaque in the Porongurups. I grew up in the vista of the nearby Stirling Ranges. Both the Porongurup National Park and the Stirling Range National Park are nationally heritage listed and form part of the internationally recognised biodiversity hot spot of the south-west region of Western Australia.

Despite the recognition of the exceptional natural and conservation values of this area, it is volunteer groups like the Friends of the Porongurup Range who play a pivotal role as the guardians, researchers and unpaid labour source for its upkeep and conservation. Their regular busy bees control weed incursions, build protective fencing and revegetate areas in need.

These friends have also worked together to secure an additional vital connection between the two parks with the purchase of the Twin Creeks Community Conservation Reserve. Through negotiations with local landholders and partnerships with other conservation landcare groups such as the Oyster Harbour Catchment Group, South Coast Natural Resource Management, Gondwana Link and the Department of Parks and Wildlife they have also created the Ranges Link, providing a significant flora and fauna corridor between the two parks. Collectively, they have created a considerable reserve for Australia's iconic plant, bird, mammal and invertebrate life.

I thank the Friends of the Porongurup Range, particularly Chairperson Lorna Long and Secretary Maggie Shanklin, for the opportunity to experience the beauty of this magnificent part of my electorate. It is an ever-changing vista of mountains and swirling mist and a haven of wild flowers and wildlife in the heart of O'Connor.