February 2024 Newsletter Now Online

The latest newsletter of the Wildflower Society of WA is now available for download for Society Members.  You may download it here.

As the Newsletter is for Members Only, you may need to log in to the Members Only section of the website.  If you have any problems doing this, please email memberships@wildflowersocietywa.org.au for assistance from one of our member volunteers.

Those who receive the hard copy of the newsletter will receive it in the next two weeks.

Those who also subscribe to Australian Plants should also receive the latest issue.

Petition to Save Perth Airport’s Banksia Woodlands, wetlands and Aboriginal Heritage sites

Perth Airport’s last remaining threatened Banksia Woodlands, wetlands and Aboriginal cultural and heritage sites are under imminent threat of clearing for commercial development. These sites were intended to be preserved in early Master Plans of the airport to the end of the Lease in 2096, but many have already been cleared for non-aviation developments since then.

However, you can help save these valuable and irreplaceable treasures by signing the Petition to the Parliament of Australia HERE, by 30 September 2020.

Please take a moment now to have your say to preserve this for our collective future, and feel free to pass this on.

Perry House Open

The Wildflower Society of Western Australia is concerned for the health and well-being of all our members and our paid office staff and volunteers. Government advice is to limit contact with others at this time, to try to reduce the rate at which the virus spreads.

For this reason, please be aware that the Perry House office of the WSWA is slowly re-opening on Tuesdays and Thursdays and if you wish to visit then please phone the Office first on 9383 7979 to make sure that someone is present. Wildflower Society activity and business will continue, but with most office-holders and office staff and volunteers working from home.

Branches of the Wildflower Society of course are also keeping abreast of this rapidly unfolding situation, and making individual decisions as to whether meetings and other events should go ahead. If you are a branch member, please monitor your emails and the WSWA website to keep up-to-date.

State Council & Seminar

State Council Meeting and Prescribed Burning Seminar

State Council will meet on 22 February and there will also be a seminar on Fire, Prescribed Burning and Native Flora. This event is for Members Only and seats are limited (already nearly full). Members wishing to attend should contact Perry House this Tuesday or Wednesday 10am-2.pm for further details or to register.

Native vegetation issues paper

The Wildflower Society of WA actively campaigns for the protection of wildflowers and native vegetation in Western Australia. Conservation of wildflowers and the environment where they live is an ongoing and important issue, as our native vegetation suffers ‘death by a thousand cuts’ through incremental clearing.

The WSWA is making a formal submission to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), in response to the release for public consultation of a Native Vegetation issues paper. The consultation is to help DWER formulate a Native Vegetation Strategy, which will guide native vegetation policy in WA for decades. You can read more from the DWER website here.

Comments and submissions to government are always stronger and make more impact when they are supported by many members in the community. It would be great if, as a member of the Wildflower Society, you were able to take the time to make a short (or long) submission on this issue. This will help to back up the formal WSWA response and encourage DWER to take our position into consideration.

Making a submission should take between half and one hour to fill in the survey – time well spent if we can have an impact on government policy on the clearing of native vegetation.

You can make a submission by completing an online form. Go to https://consult.dwer.wa.gov.au/native-vegetation/issues-paper/consultation/ and begin clicking on the links and answering the questions.  (click here)

Note that the submission period closes next Monday 10 Feb. So if you’re able to do this, please do it now.

The attached document has a set of potential responses that you may like to use, as a guide, for the most relevant questions. Please use this as a guide only, and express your answer in your own words. Note that only some questions are covered in the document – feel free to answer any others you think are important (note you don’t need to answer all questions for your survey responses to count).

Thanks for taking the time to help – every response helps drive home our message.

If you do find time to make a submission, please let us know at enquiry@wildflowersocietywa.org.au so we can track our impact and engagement.

DOWNLOAD NOTES TO ASSIST IN WRITING A RESPONSE – HERE.

 

 

Newsletter Now Online

The latest newsletter of the Wildflower Society of WA is now available for download to Members Only.  You may download it here.

As the Newsletter is for Members Only, you may need to log in to the Members Only section of the website.  If you have any problems doing this, please email memberships@wildflowersocietywa.org.au for assistance from one of our member volunteers.

Those who receive the hard copy of the newsletter will receive it in the next two weeks – it is still at the printers and will be posted as soon as possible.  We have not yet received Australian Plants, and we can’t as yet be sure whether or not it will be included in the mailout.

 

Newsletters from APS

We regularly receive hard copies of newsletters from related ANPSA organisations in other parts of Australia, which are distributed to each branch for members to read.  We are now receiving digital copies of some of these newsletters which may be downloaded – MEMBERS ONLY.  Only the current copy will be available for download due to size restrictions.  On our website now – Members Only – are newsletters from TasmaniaNSWVictoria – all December 2019.  Go to the newsletters page here.

Are you in arrears? Renew now!

We have 46 members who are in the 3 month ‘grace’ period, and 34 members who have expired since 1 October !  These members will not be receiving the next Newsletter (due in Feb) or Update about the State Council Meeting, also in February.

Renewals can be made online on the ‘My Membership’ page – which is under the ‘Members’ main menu.  This Members Only area requires a password, although if you have previously logged into the system (on the same computer or device) you should get automatic entry.

Once on the ‘My Membership’ page, you will see the word ‘Renew’ in very small letters under your membership type.  Press the words and follow the instructions!

If you have any trouble renewing, or logging in, please email memberships@wildflowersocietywa.org.au for assistance from a volunteer member.

Of course, you can always renew in the usual way – with a cheque by post, or by telephoning the office during normal business hours and providing details over the phone.  The paper renewal form can be downloaded here.

Thank you for your support!

Congrats Greg and Bronwen

Congratulations to Bronwen and Greg Keighery on their Australia Day honours, from all of us at the Wildflower Society. Greg and Bronwen are founding Perth Branch members and have been on the Perth Branch Committee since inception, only retiring last June after 33 years. Well deserved – ‘For service to conservation and the environment.’

Photo Greg and Bronwen Keighery:  K Sarti

Photo Lechenaultia biloba – Drummond Nature Reserve:  B Moyle