The Budadee Rangers have mapped and removed invasive weeds at Tharra (also known as the Woodstock Abydos Aboriginal Reserve), about 150 kilometres south of Port Hedland, as part of a weed management plan developed by the rangers.
The area has high cultural and archaeological significance for Palyku people and other Aboriginal groups.
The project started in March 2021 and since then the rangers have undertaken weed mapping, established monitoring sites, and have removed weeds during four field trips.
The team has been targeting Calotropis, Calotropis procera, a shrub or tree growing up to four metres tall. It is native to Asia and sub-tropical parts of South-East Asia and is a declared pest in Western Australia.
Senior ranger Peter Jaffery, who has been working on the project said their work has had a major impact on the local community.
“This project is bringing people back to country. Our young people are really interested and want to work with us,” Mr Jaffery said.
Jake Milroy, a director at Budadee Aboriginal Corporation said the project provided a positive learning opportunity.
“Budadee Rangers share their knowledge and experience working in teams on country. This helps to build knowledge of important areas and how to maintain them,” Mr Milroy said.
Program manager Clare Meredith said the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation wants to continue to work in partnership with Traditional Owners and regional land managers, like the Budadee Rangers, to design and deliver offset projects in the Pilbara.
“The Pilbara Environmental Offsets Fund was set up to enable long term and collaborative conservation projects to be delivered across the landscape,” Ms Meredith said.
“We hope this will be the first of many projects delivered at Woodstock Abydos, designed in partnership with Aboriginal people.”
Environmental offsets are required to be paid when the impacts of a development cannot be avoided or rehabilitated. In the Pilbara, government combines offset contributions from multiple companies and then uses that money to deliver conservation projects to counterbalance environmental impacts.
Budadee rangers and DWER hope to work together over the coming years to identify opportunities to build on the Calotropis project at Tharra to improve vegetation and habitat for species like the northern quoll.
