Perth residents invited to help rehabilitate an old rubbish tip in the centre of Kings Park

June 4, 1998

Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes has invited Perth residents to help regenerate a little known part of Kings Park to help celebrate World Environment Day tomorrow.

Mrs Edwardes today launched the special project to rehabilitate an old rubbish tip site located in the centre of the park with 11,000 trees and understorey wildflowers.

The Minister said Kings Park was a very fitting venue to kick off tomorrow's World Environment Day.

"Kings Park and Botanic Gardens is the State's premier park and is a very special piece of environment for many Perth residents," she said.

"This is a great opportunity for the community to give something back to the park and play a direct role in World Environment Day.

"We are asking people to volunteer an hour or two and help Kings Park staff and 'Friends of Kings Park' group members rehabilitate the area."

Mrs Edwardes said the co-operative nature of this project captured the community spirit of World Environment Day.

The one hectare site was used as a rubbish tip from the late 1960s to the late 1980s.

Mrs Edwardes said restoration of the site was a major initiative of the Kings Park Bushland Management Plan and was supported by Alcoa of Australia, Rocla Quarry Products and Western Power.

"This project is a practical demonstration of the State Government's commitment to essential urban bushland renewal," she said.

"The restoration aims to re-establish a functioning native ecosystem, complete with a diversity of plants from the surrounding Eucalyptus and Banksia woodland."

Mrs Edwardes said the project also represented the park's first attempt to restore native orchids as part of a bushland renewal project.

More than 50 species would be re-introduced to the site by direct seeding, seedlings and plants grown from cuttings and tissue cultures collected within Kings Park and locally. It was likely that many birds, lizards and insects would also return as the vegetation grows.

Mrs Edwardes said the generous support of industry had allowed the Kings Park and Botanic Garden to launch a renewal project of such scope.

"The support and sponsorship provided by Alcoa of Australia, Rocla Quarry Products and Western Power have been essential to this project," she said.

"This support has enabled surveys of surrounding vegetation, the collection of seed, the smoke treatment of seeds, tissue culture and inoculation of plant species with beneficial fungi - all part of a strategic effort to return a former tip site to a native ecosystem."

People interested in helping tomorrow should contact Karen at the Kings Park Administration Centre on 9480 3600 for details of how to volunteer.

Media contact: Nicole Trigwell 9421 7777