Nearly one hundred people have met in Northam for a think tank to help shape the future management of natural resources in the Wheatbelt.

The group of landholders, scientists and community stakeholders were gathered as part of Wheatbelt NRM’s annual general meeting.

Guests were asked to vote on 16 projects as diverse as the management of roadside vegetation, soil health, tree planting, water quality and building the volunteer land care base.

Feedback from the meeting will be used to help secure up to $12 million of funding from the Australian government.

Wheatbelt NRM has spent the past two months asking the community what projects were needed for the region’s waterways, bush land, farms and towns.

Chief executive officer Natarsha Woods said the information would be used to help shape the National Landcare Program bid.

“We’re asking communities to give us ideas now, so we can take them to Canberra and strengthen our request for funding.” Natarsha Woods said.

“This could be for projects as diverse as feral animal control through to sustainable farming practices.”

Guest speakers during the AGM included the acting Lord Mayor of Perth Dr Jemma Green, who spoke about renewable energy sources.

She said the single biggest influence over power pricing would be people improving their own energy efficiency by one to two per cent per annum.
 
Two new directors were also appointed during the AGM.

York research agronomist Richard Devlin and Cunderdin farmer Bruce Storer have both been appointed to the board of Wheatbelt NRM.

The group’s chief executive officer Natarsha Woods said people could still have their say on the region’s future management by submitting ideas online.
 
People have until the end of November to submit ideas or vote on projects by logging onto https://oursay.org/wheatbelt