Heartland Journeys

Ezzard Flowers is a Goreng-Menang Elder. His life story includes living with his extended family on country as a young boy and then being removed from family and placed in a mission. Following this experience, he faced the challenge of reconnecting to family and country and seeking his identity and purpose as a Noongar man.

Eugene Eades is a Goreng – Menang Elder, and since 2006 he has played a pivotal role in creating a powerful healing and cross-cultural gathering place on a former farm, now called Nowanup, to the north-east of the Stirling Range. Eugene has used his extraordinary leadership skills and dedication to help make Nowanup a beacon of hope. He has led hundreds of camps and welcomed thousands of people to Nowanup.

Meet Dr Nic Dunlop, Coordinator of the Citizen Science Program at the Conservation Council of Western Australia. For decades, Nic has used his scientific knowledge to assist and run citizen science projects, mostly involving birds. One of Nic’s key projects is testing the effectiveness of a bird monitoring method that can be used by citizen scientists to identify the ecological outcomes of restoration and revegetation plantings, as well as habitat management.

Meet some of the members of Friends of Porongurup Range, an incredibly passionate and dedicated community group who own and manage Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve. This is a property of 511 hectares nestled between the highly biodiverse Porongurup Range and Stirling Range National Parks.

Restoration ecologist Justin Jonson has spent years refining the science of restoring habitats and ecological integrity on cleared land. He has worked extensively in the central zone of Gondwana Link, between the wetter forests and the Great Western Woodlands. This work is largely taking place on land cleared for agriculture and is part of an ambitious program to re-connect wildlife habitats across south-western Australia.

Sylvia Leighton farms near Wellstead on the property she grew up on. When her parents retired in 2013, she returned to the farm with her partner Peter and their son Alex. Sylvia has come back with a wealth of scientific knowledge and experience in biology, ecology, community landcare and soil science, along with a passion for farming in a more ecologically-sensitive way.

Meet Ella Maesepp from Katanning Landcare, one of Western Australia's most prominent and successful landcare organisations in a prosperous agricultural community in the heart of WA’s southern wheatbelt. Ella has been with Katanning Landcare since 2006, working with farmers to help improve the sustainable management of their land, as well as assisting people in town to develop more sustainable living practices.

Meet Eddy and Donna Wajon, owners of Chingarrup Sanctuary, a 576 hectare bush property near Boxwood Hill. Since they purchased the property for conservation in 2002, Eddy and Donna overseen some wonderful ecological restoration and citizen science work, including the restoration of 80 ha of cleared land to quality wildlife habitat.