Managing large, intense and complex bushfires that threaten lives and homes is all in a day’s work for Allison Donovan – Western Australia’s first and only female Level 3 incident controller.

It’s now easier than ever to immerse yourself in Yellagonga Regional Park’s natural beauty with new accessible facilities, designed in partnership with Traditional Owners to minimise disturbance to these wonderful wetlands.

Despite being a large and formidable predator, the Pilbara olive python rather prefers a quiet life. So quiet that before the advent of modern radio transmitters, it had been challenging to track its ecology. Dr David Pearson shares how modern technology has unlocked some of its secrets.

If you’ve ever basked in the warm Perth summer sun, enjoying the beauty of the Swan-Canning Estuary, you may not have realised that just beneath the surface lie vast stretches of thriving seagrass meadows. These meadows are the most valuable habitats in the waterway, teeming with life and performing key functions to maintain the health of the estuary.   

During a national survey of desert wildlife, the Wiluna Martu Rangers searched Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park for animal tracks and discovered tracks from a surprising species.

Western Australia is home to an extraordinary diversity of terrestrial orchids. But with many species under threat, one Kings Park Research Scientist has devoted her career to conserving these native beauties.

It encompasses the Burrup Peninsula, the Dampier Archipelago, surrounding marine areas and the submerged landscape, and earlier this year Murujuga Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the World Heritage List.

In the vast, ancient landscapes of Western Australia’s Pilbara region, a new conservation model is taking root—one that’s built on respect, science and deep cultural connection. In its second year of operations, the Pilbara Conservation Project is redefining how Country is protected, bringing together Traditional Owners, government and industry in a shared mission to safeguard biodiversity and culture.  

Until recently, there were only two recognised subspecies of brushtail possums in Western Australia. Recent scientific research into genetic relationships between brushtail possum populations throughout Australia concluded there is indeed a third subspecies that calls WA home. 

The heritage-listed Ningaloo Coast stretches more than 300 kilometres along Western Australia’s remote western shoreline and is a critical nesting ground for the endangered loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). Among many natural predators of the species is the golden ghost crab (Ocypode convexa), which is having a staggering impact on turtle nests and hatchlings. 

Maritime law defines flotsam and jetsam as debris in the water, either unintentionally as the result of an accident (flotsam), or deliberately thrown overboard from a vessel in distress to lighten the load (jetsam). A lifelong love of the Houtman Abrolhos islands and marine areas near Geraldton led Pia Boschetti, who as a child was fascinated by the ‘treasures’ that washed up on the shore, to spearhead a movement that turns this marine debris into art.

Deep in the ancient forests of the Walpole Wilderness, in the far south-west of Australia, new mountain biking and hiking trails are capturing the imagination of trail users.  

Western Australia has a rich diversity of bird life, often associated with melodious songbirds such as the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), splendid fairy-wren (Malurus splendens) and New Holland honeyeaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), but there is another, sometimes overlooked dimension to our birdlife – our diverse and abundant waterbirds.  

The rugged reality of nature is tantalisingly close for those who work in the regions of the Parks and Wildlife Service. From conserving endangered flora to responding to bushfires, being immersed in community and working on Country is an experience unlike any other for participants in the Graduate Development Program.  

Imagine a frog so small it could sit comfortably on your thumbnail – newborns no bigger than a single Rice Bubble. Now picture that same fragile creature teetering on the brink of extinction, hidden in a muddy burrow deep in south-west Australia. 

A rich landscape of rolling spinifex hills, spectacular escarpments and winding tree-lined watercourses makes up the remote 240,000-hectare Millstream Chichester National Park. Located 120 kilometres south of Karratha in WA’s north, the park is known for its lush oases of the Millstream wetlands and Fortescue River pools.

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of LANDSCOPE magazine, we look back at a groundbreaking program that saw members of the public invited to join conservation scientists in the field to see and participate in hands-on research activities. LANDSCOPE Expeditions ran from 1992 to 2009 and traversed the State, laying the foundation for some major conservation programs that still exist today. 

Since the age of nine, Cliff Winfield has been capturing images of the natural world around him. With a keen eye and some amazing mentors, he has developed a good reputation in Western Australia’s nature photography community and his stunning images have featured in almost every edition of LANDSCOPE magazine since its inception in 1985.