Mandoon - Helena River Confluence Project
Project Manager
Francesca Flynn, Evergreen Consultancy WA
Partners
Waterways Western Australia and Francesca were guided throughout this project by Whadjuk-Noongar Elder, Greg Ugle, and several community groups including Helena River Catchment Group Inc and Helena River Alliance.
Project Overview
In March 2023, Waterways Western Australia hosted the Mandoon - Helena River Confluence, a coming together of the river’s community to explore a shared vision for the future. It was attended by 107 people from 51 organisations over two days, including community groups, businesses, schools, government agencies, and Noongar Traditional Owners.
A collective community vision for Helena River has begun to emerge:
The Helena River’s health is protected and restored for all to enjoy through connection of people with place and culture, and enhancement of environmental and social values that support sustainable economic development.
The emerging community vision strongly aligns with the strategic direction of Australian government agencies, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on water use, ecosystem health, community wellbeing, economic growth, and employment. The community aspiration of creating a River Park along the entirety of Helena River through consolidation of existing conservation estate, parks and reserves specifically aligns with the WA government’s recent endorsement of a new national target to protect 30% of Australia’s land and marine areas by 2030.
The Helena River is deeply valuable to the community who want to see its many values better protected, enhanced, and shared. They want more opportunities to connect with the river through leisure and employment, and more opportunities to access and benefit from its values.
'This type of community-driven catchment plan has not been done before in WA'
Next steps
We believe that a critical next step for Helena River is to develop an integrated catchment plan that unites the community, including government agencies, under a shared vision for a sustainable future.
Ideas and initiatives identified during the Confluence could be delivered by the community over the next 2-3 years to support collaborative development of a community-driven plan, for example, cultural mapping, citizen science monitoring and a trails audit. Initiatives could be delivered by community groups, schools, businesses, and individuals, working separately or in partnerships with government, researchers, or industry, to create a shared journey towards a new shared vision.
This type of community-driven catchment plan has not been done before in WA. It has potential to be a powerful tool for restoring river health and building resilience through climate change and urbanisation as we lead up to and beyond the 2029 Perth Bicentenary.
