Congratulations to Dowerin’s nursery owner and farmer, Rob Boase, who was recently named WA's Individual Landcarer at the 2017 Western Australian Landcare Awards in Perth. He was nominated by the Wheatbelt NRM team to acknowledge his tireless work in protecting unique and rare flora and vegetation across the Wheatbelt.

Since the 1970s, Rob Boase along with his wife Beth, have been committed to protecting the unique, rare and amazing flora and vegetation of the Western Australian Wheatbelt. Not only has Rob committed to protecting the remnant vegetation of their property at Dowerin through Landcare activities and placing a conservation covenant on the property, Rob is recognised as being one of the leading experts in the Wheatbelt on its unique flora.

Through his nursery, Arinya Plants, Rob has supported revegetation across the Wheatbelt, by cultivating some of the more difficult species, being responsible for his own planting of over 78,000 from his nursery and has participated in groups such as the Central Wheatbelt Threatened Flora Recovery Team, Wheatbelt NRM and the local Landcare group.

Rob is currently assisting with the cultivation of some lesser known bush tucker species for the Aboriginal NRM Program. Rob and Beth's property at Dowerin is a testament of how to conserve fragmented vegetation in the Wheatbelt, whilst Rob's initiatives have resulted in his position as the custodian of an important wetland which supports a number of threatened species.