Wickepin’s Facey Group receives $10k NAB grant to revegetate fire-ravaged bush and farmland

Wickepin-based not-for-profit Facey Group received a $10,000 community grant from NAB on May 1 to go towards their efforts to regenerate remnant areas of bushland affected by the 2022 Narrogin East bushfire. The 2022 February fires burnt through about 30,000 hectares of vegetation between Narrogin and Wickepin, including around 2500ha of native vegetation on private property. NAB WA’s regional customer executive of regional and agribusiness Jeff Pontifex was in Wickepin to hand over the grant to the Facey Group. “I’m really proud to be here,” former Wheatbelt local Mr Pontifex said. “For me personally it’s really purposeful to come here to present this $10,000 today - we know there’s a real challenge in rural and regional WA following natural disasters.” Before presentation of the grant, Facey Group’s fire management & recovery and NRM coordinator Claudia Hadlow gave Mr Pontifex an overview of the bushfire’s impact and how the group plans to use the funds to rehabilitate the land. “It started just north of Kondin Road and affected around 22 farmers,” she said, showing Mr Pontifex the bushfire-razed area on a map. Ms Hadlow has toured the affected remnant bushland with landowners and reported promising signs of regrowth and the surprise emergence of flora not previously observed in the area. The Facey Group will put the grant towards purchasing pottiputki tree planters and hiring equipment to rip and mound the earth. Saltbush donated from a nursery in Tammin and trees sourced from a nursery in Tincurrin will be planted by Blazeaid volunteers throughout May. “Our next step is to get the equipment now that we have the money and then Blazeaid will move into town,“ Ms Hadlow said, “I’ll coordinate the planting sites with them, then once we get the saltbush we’ll be into it.”