WESTERN Landcare NSW will host a Community Conservation Conversation Camp at Kinchega National Park this weekend, acting as a trial run for what Regional Landcare co-ordinator Melanie Gates hopes to become an ongoing event series.
The free camp invites residents across the Far West to engage in conversations about conservation with landholders and experts.
The camp will also provide entertainment from local band Fire Bucket, an outdoor screening of the ABC’s The Kimberley, a guided tour of the stars by Outback Astronomy and bush tucker meals provided by Wontanella Catering.
Ms Gates said the premise of the camp is to bring together community to engage with nature.
“The premise is to gather people around the campfire,” she said.
“There’s a bit of engagement fatigue when it comes to doing presentations; we want to talk about nature, in nature.
“We’ve got the professionals who have the science, they have the knowledge and the research.
“They bring that to the table, but it’s actually the landholders and land managers that implement onto the land, so they become the experts.”
The event is set to be a part of a series of community conversation camps facilitated by Western Landcare NSW across different locations, with future events to explore a range of topics such as carp catching, rehydrating rangelands and more.
Ms Gates said future events will integrate a range of activities.
“We want this to be an ongoing community conversation across the Far West,” she said.
“We also want to integrate the outdoor screening events as well.
“We’re looking for ways to do overnight camps anywhere we can, to bring people together and to have important conservations around the campfire and sharing meals and getting back to basics.”
Ms Gates said the camp was able to be offered for free thanks to funding from the Biodiversity Conservation Trust, and with support from National Parks who offered accommodation in the shearer’s quarters for the event.
Ms Gates also said she hopes the events are able to be co-designed with local businesses and creatives.
“We want to co-design these camps with local businesses, local bands and entertainment, local caterers and all too,” she said.
“It’s not just all sitting around talking, there is actually Junior Landcare activities for children. It’s a real family get together.”
Registration forms to join the camp can be found here: https://www.westernlandcarensw.com.au/ccc25/
