About Us
Governance
The Southwest Australia Ecoregion Initiative (SWAEI) is a consortium of partner organisations and government agencies. The group is a multi-stakeholder, non-sectoral group and authority is not vested in any one government agency or non-government organisation. Since its inception, the Initiative has been jointly co-chaired by WWF-Australia and the West Australian Governments Department of Environment and Conservation.
Working Group
The decision making and strategic direction of the SWAEI is the responsibility of the Working Group which meets on a monthly basis. Membership is open to representatives of participating organisations and government agencies prepared to make a commitment to contributing actively to project development. The Working Group is co-chaired by WWF-Australia and the Department of Environment and Conservation.
Represented on the Working Group are:
Ken Atkins – Co-Chair
Manager, Species and Communities Branch, Department of Environment and Conservation
Paul Gamblin – Co-Chair
Program Leader – West, WWF-Australia
Geoff Barrett
Regional Ecologist, Department of Environment and Conservation
Paul Bowers
Caring for our Country Facilitator - Indigenous Land Management, Australian Government
Hamish Jolly
Chief Executive Officer for Western Australia, Greening Australia WA
Katina Marchbank
Senior Planner, Southern Regions Planning Team, Department of Planning
Neil Riches
Caring for our Country Facilitator – Environment, Australian Government
Rod Safstrom
Land Use Planning and Sustainability, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
Linda Soteriou
General Manager, Natural Resource Management
Renata Zelinova
Perth Biodiversity Project Manager, Western Australian Local Government Association
Stakeholder Reference Group
Collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders lies at the core of this important initiative and will ultimately determine its success as a tool to guide far-reaching and effective conservation measures across Southwest Australia. The Stakeholder Reference Group is a forum for all interested stakeholders to contribute to and stay abreast of the progress of the SWAEI project.
Represented on the Stakeholder Reference Group are:
• Bennelongia Environmental Consultants
• Botanic Gardens & Parks Authority
• Bush Heritage Australia
• Carbon Neutral
• CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
• Curtin University
• Department of Agriculture and Food (Western Australia)
• Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)
• Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Australian Government)
• Department of Planning (Western Australia)
• Department of Water (Western Australia)
• Edith Cowan University
• Goldfields Land and Sea Council
• Greening Australia
• Leave No Trace Australia
• Murdoch University
• National Trust of Australia
• South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council
• South West Catchments Council
• Southern Coast Natural Resource Management
• Sunshine Coast Regional Council (Queensland)
• The Western Australian Farmers Federation
• The Wilderness Society
• University of Melbourne
• University of Queensland
• University of Western Australia
• Water Corporation
• Western Australia Grassroots Development
• Western Australia Natural Resource Management
• Western Australia Local Government Association
• West Midlands Group
• Western Australian Museum
• Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management
• WWF-Australia
Conservation Planning Team
The Conservation Planning Team provides strategic direction and technical input into the conservation planning component of the initiative.
Represented on the Conservation Planning Team are:
Professor Bob Pressey
Professor at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University where he is establishing a new research program on conservation planning for terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. His previous work experience includes 19 years with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service and 8 years as a private environmental consultant. His field of expertise is conservation planning which he has pursued in many parts of Australia and in current or past collaborative projects in South Africa, Canada, China, Brazil, the USA and Turkey. He leads the IUCN World Commission for Protected Areas task force on conservation planning.
Dr Trevor Ward
Consultant marine ecologist - international policy and planning for fisheries, marine ecosystems and biodiversity; Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, University of the Sunshine Coast; Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Australia; formerly CSIRO Marine Research and Leader of CSIRO's national marine environmental research program.
Dr Geoff Barrett
Regional Ecologist at the Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australia.
Danielle Witham
Senior Conservation Officer at WWF-Australia where she is managing the Southwest Australia Ecoregion Conservation Planning Project.
