The Seascapes Coastcare Group and City of Mandurah have installed new interpretive signage along a popular Seascapes walkway.
Fourteen signs have been installed along a three kilometre stretch of footpath from Daydream Plaza in Halls Head to Gretel Drive in Falcon.
The aim of the signage walkway is to support community learning about native species and traditional Aboriginal use of plants and animals.
Mayor Rhys Williams congratulated everyone involved in the project and recognised the importance of sharing knowledge about the area.
“We’re lucky to have a range of incredibly driven community groups and organisations, made up of some wonderful people, right here in Mandurah,” he said.
“Congratulations to everyone involved. These signs are a great way to share the environmental and cultural importance of the area and demonstrates our connections to the past and creating a great future.”
The Seascapes foreshore, in Halls Head, is an area of comparatively high biodiversity, with vegetation communities identified as being more complex than those occurring further north in the Perth Coastal Region.
A mix of sand and limestone dunes and ridges has contributed to the grassland, shrubland and heath vegetation communities that are seen today.
As part of the project, the Seascapes Coastcare Group worked with an environmental artist, Angela Rossen, to teach students from Halls Head College and South Halls Head Primary School about coastal biodiversity and cultural heritage values through hands-on artistic and scientific experience.
Local Aboriginal Community Leader George Walley also provided information regarding local flora and fauna species and their uses by local Noongar people.
In addition to the signage, the project also saw both schools and community members planting in nearby dunes, and Aboriginal students from the Follow the Dream program at Halls Head College created their own Creation Myths, which can be viewed on www.mandurah.wa.gov.au.
The project was funded by the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program supported by Royalties for Regions, the City of Mandurah, Halls Head College, South Halls Head Primary School, and the Seascapes Residents Association.