As part of my summer unit, I had the opportunity to visit places that are very rich in biodiversity and history and the first location I visited was Bibra Lake in the northern part of Cockburn on Progress Drive and later in the afternoon, the group visited the Pinakarri Cohousing Community at 4 Bottrill Street, Hamilton Hill in Western Australia. The group was guided by our tutor Mrs. Annette Watkins and with her guidance I had a golden opportunity to explore many things that has a direct impact on assigned locations. Therefore, in this essay, I will be discussing two subjects, such as Bibra Lake and the Pinakarri Cohousing Community, through which principles of conservation and resilience have been applied.
First, as part of the Beeliar Regional Park, Bibra Lake is considered as a Bush Forever destination. It has many ideals of the environment, heritage, and recreation. There are many shaded picnic and BBQ areas in the park, and on-site toilet and drinking water services are available. Also, the Murdoch Ph.D. project monitors the turtle movement, manages the fox and birds by building turtle nest shelters to stop from striking the turtle nest. These are meant to include a protected atmosphere from predators through which females can lay their eggs, which will be secured until the time of hatching. However, despite having difficulties in managing the conservation activities in the area the turtle watch and controlling of fox and other birds from destroying the turtle nest have been put in place.
Secondly, the Pinakarri Cohousing Community is committed to being more sustainable culturally, socially, environmentally and economically. We were introduced to Mrs. Robin and Mr. Taid, who were our speakers for the rest of our field trip to Pinakarri, and we have become acquainted with the family of the Pinakarri Cohousing Community. I managed to learn that the Pinakarri was established in 1991 and the population as of today is just 25 heads and they share meals among each other twice a week. They also had state funding to build homes, but later the state government has declined from funding. The rents are charged upon their earnings. They generate income from rentals and all of them participate in the decision-making. The building was built by the climatic conditions which they referred to as climate-sensitive architecture and is planned for special needs. The roofs were built with freezing panels to control heat during summer. They also have a rainwater harvesting system in place to supplement the water. The communal discuss important issues and environmental and social justice through the involvement of everyone.
Finally, with the guidance of my tutor and the guest speakers, I enjoyed and prompted me to take a critical look at and understand the historical, analytical and technical aspects of sustainability at the local level. Besides, I have been able to relate principles such as resilience, bio-regionalism and sense of place to the analysis of complicated social-environmental systems. I did admire an endemic sense of place and identity as well as its role in creating a resilient regional culture.