Who we are

The Great Western Woodlands Collaboration is an alliance of four conservation organisations; The Wilderness Society, Pew Environment group (Australia), The Nature Conservancy and Gondwana Link working together towards a shared vision for this region.

The Wilderness Society, formed in 1976, bases its conservation work around Australia on our WildCountry science and community engagement principles. We have been active in the Great Western Woodlands over the last 4 years working towards the production of a landmark scientific report on the region, “The extraordinary nature of the Great Western Woodlands”. David Mackenzie, Charles Roche and Alexander Watson were instrumental in this important achievement.

Gondwana Link, based in Albany WA, is implementing a landscape-scale vision for the South West involving individuals and local, regional and national groups.  We are working together to achieve reconnected country across south Australia in  which entire ecosystems, and the fundamental ecological processes that underpin them, are restored and maintained. The completed link will be an arc of bushland across south-western Australia, from the karri forest and heathlands of the SW corner to the woodlands and mallee bordering the Nullarbor plain. Its work is providing a global model for large-scale, collaborative, community based conservation.

The Nature Conservancy's mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Science guides its work by identifying Earth's most important natural places. Using innovative tools, The Nature Conservancy protects and restores these priority places. It works with communities and partners around the world.

Pew Environment Group works to solve some of the world’s most challenging conservation issues.  An International non-government organisation, Pew is a major force in North America, the Western Pacific, Europe and Australia in educating the public and policy makers about the causes, consequences and solutions to major conservation problems. In Australia Pew works with other Australian based organisations to achieve long term protection and good management of bushland, deserts and oceans- areas such as the Great Western Woodlands. 

The Great Western Woodlands team

Wayne O’Sullivan, BA (Sust dev) Hons. Grad cert For. Sc.,  Project Director - The Wilderness Society Inc.

After a misspent youth in the building, mining, surveying and telecommunications industries, Wayne spent over twenty years working in landcare and revegetation in the Western Australian Wheatbelt. He has worked for the Department of Environment and Conservation as a Research Scientist and as a Botanist, and as an independent contractor and consultant, mostly on the domestication of native plants as tree crops for the low rainfall zone.  For three years he was the coordinator of the Oil Mallee Association, and most recently Manager of the Men of the Trees native plant nursery. He has an Honours degree in Sustainable Development, a Graduate Diploma in Forest Science, and is an accredited Permaculture Designer.

Peter Price, Corporate Relations Manager-  GondwanaLink

Peter joined the collaboration of conservation interests in the Great Western Woodlands Project in February 2010. Peter has an extensive background in ‘Outback Western Australia’ through the families former ownership of Coodardy Station at Cue and many years operating a pastoral consulting practice specialising in restructuring and management of pastoral enterprises, acquisition of traditional land and negotiating exploration access and mining impact agreements between pastoral and mining interests. Other business interests and work experiences nationally and internationally have included sales and marketing in agricultural products and services, development and marketing of technologies.

Peter Robertson, WA State Co-ordinator - The Wilderness Society

Peter grew up on a sheep farm near Kojonup in the south west of WA. He was always interested in the environment and in 1979 became involved with the Campaign to Save Native Forests which was campaigning against Alcoa’s bauxite mining in the jarrah forest. In 1981 he joined The Wilderness Society and travelled to Tasmania to help in the Franklin River campaign. Since then he has worked for a variety of environment organisations around Australia.  He is currently the Western Australia Campaign Manager for The Wilderness Society, based in Perth. Peter loves the West Australian bush and wildflowers and hopes the time will come when we stop destroying what’s left and start really appreciating and looking after what we have.

Keith Bradby, Director - GondwanaLink

Keith first encountered the trees and wildflowers of the woodlands in the mid 1970’s.  Totally captivated, he then lived in Ravensthorpe for the next 14 years, first as a beekeeper then as a seed collector.  Both jobs had him ranging across the woodlands, which he helped protect from Government plans to alienate large areas to farming in the early 1980’s.  He helped get landcare going along the south coast during the 1980’s, has worked as policy advisor for a number of State Government Ministers and has consulted for community groups, mining companies, local government and in rural enterprise development.  Keith wrote a political and environmental history of the Peel-Harvey system and co-wrote and narrated the award winning SBS documentary A Million Acres a Year.

For the last eight years Keith has had the privilege of working with a collaboration of private groups achieving the 1000 kilometre long Gondwana Link, which includes the Great Western Woodlands. 

Dr Barry Traill, Director Wild Australia Program - Pew Australia

Dr. Traill is the Director of the Wild Australia Program, a joint program of the Pew Environment Group-Australia and The Nature Conservancy and works with partner organisations to obtain protection for large wilderness areas in Australia, both on land and sea. Prior to joining Pew in 2007 Barry has led many successful conservation campaigns and projects for Australian state and national organisations over the last 25 years. He was key to establishing nationally coordinated work on the protection of Australian woodlands, including the establishment of legislation that massively reduced deforestation rates in Australia.  He was a founder of the Northern Australia Environment Alliance, and the Invasive Species Council.

Dr Michael Looker, Director, Australia Program - The Nature Conservancy

Dr Michael Looker is the Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Australia Program based in Melbourne and has been instrumental in establishing the Conservancy within Australia. The Australia program was established over 10 years ago and in that short time has achieved some significant outcomes with 28 properties purchased for conservation and over $33 million invested in conservation programs. Formerly, Michael worked as the Director of partner organisations, Trust for Nature Victoria where he helped oversee the acquisition of Victoria’s largest freehold property, Neds Corner Station near Mildura. The property is now managed for conservation. He has also worked at the Kew Gardens in London as well as lecturing in botany at La Trobe University.