- NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE NORTHERN AGRICULTURAL REGION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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The Shire of Perenjori has an economy based principally on agriculture, mining and resources, transport, local services and a growing tourism sector. Agriculture remains a major industry and land use across the Shire, while mining and resource activity provide additional employment and business opportunities.
Broadacre cropping and livestock production dominate much of the agricultural landscape. Farming supports grain handling, agricultural services, transport and other businesses, with Perenjori serving as the principal service centre for the surrounding district.
Mining and resource development have played an important role in the local economy, together with businesses and transport services supporting these industries. Economic diversification and support for local business remain priorities for the Shire.
Tourism makes a smaller but increasingly important contribution. Perenjori is part of Western Australia’s Wildflower Country and the Wildflower Way, with visitors attracted by seasonal wildflowers, wreath flowers, birdlife, heritage, nature-based experiences and astrotourism.
The Shire of Perenjori lies on the ancient Yilgarn Craton and is underlain predominantly by Archaean rocks more than 2.5 billion years old. These include extensive granitoid rocks together with greenstone belts comprising metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Banded iron formations within the greenstone belts form prominent ridges and hills, including the Koolanooka Hills in the western part of the Shire.
The landscape is generally characterised by broad, gently undulating plains and sandplains, interspersed with low hills, rocky outcrops, breakaways, drainage lines and salt lakes. Soils vary across the Shire and include sandy and loamy earths, duplex soils, deep sands, gravelly soils and heavier clay soils associated with valleys and drainage systems.
The Shire lies predominantly within the Merredin (AVW01) subregion of the Avon Wheatbelt IBRA bioregion. Native vegetation includes eucalypt woodlands, mallee and Acacia shrublands, with distinctive vegetation communities associated with banded iron formations, rocky uplands, sandplains and salt-lake systems.
The Plant assemblages of the Koolanooka System occur on the Koolanooka and Perenjori hills and their footslopes. These ancient banded iron formations support distinctive plant communities associated with iron-rich soils, rocky slopes, summits and footslopes.
Remnant eucalypt woodlands within the Shire may also form part of the nationally listed Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt ecological community. This community is listed as Critically Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Only woodland patches that meet the community’s diagnostic and condition requirements form part of the nationally protected ecological community.
Remnant woodlands, mallee and shrublands also provide habitat for the Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), which is listed as Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Malleefowl inhabit semi-arid and arid shrublands and low woodlands, particularly areas dominated by mallee and Acacia, where suitable soils and leaf litter are available for construction of their nesting mounds.
Agriculture is the dominant land use across the western and central parts of the Shire of Perenjori, with broadacre cropping and livestock production occupying extensive areas. Farming is supported by grain-handling facilities, transport infrastructure and agricultural services centred primarily on Perenjori and the surrounding settlements.
Land use becomes more diverse further east, where mining and mineral exploration occur alongside extensive areas of native vegetation and conservation land. Mining and resource development are important components of the Shire’s land-use pattern and require careful management alongside environmental and cultural values.
Karara Rangeland Park protects a large area of former pastoral country and includes rugged ranges, banded iron formations, granite outcrops, breakaways, wetlands and extensive native vegetation. The park was created from six former pastoral stations and now protects ecosystems that were previously poorly represented in the conservation estate.
Across the agricultural landscape, remnant bushland, reserves, roadside vegetation, granite outcrops and other areas of native vegetation provide important habitat and ecological connections. Land-use management therefore needs to balance productive agriculture and resource development with protection of biodiversity, soil, water, landscape and cultural values.
The Shire of Perenjori has a small and dispersed population centred on Perenjori, with smaller communities at Latham, Maya and Bunjil and residents living on farms and rural properties throughout the district. Perenjori is the principal administrative and service centre for the Shire.
At the 2021 Census, the Shire of Perenjori had 629 residents. The median age was 43 years, and 18 people — 2.9% of the population — identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Agriculture, mining and associated industries strongly influence employment and community life. The Shire’s small and geographically dispersed population makes access to services, reliable infrastructure, community organisations and volunteering particularly important to local communities.
Water resources in the Shire of Perenjori are strongly influenced by low and variable rainfall and the inland drainage systems of the northern Wheatbelt. There are no major permanent rivers, and surface water generally occurs in ephemeral drainage lines, salt lakes, claypans, farm dams and other constructed water storages. Reliable water supplies are particularly important for agriculture and rural communities. Scheme and stored water, farm dams, rainwater tanks, bores and strategic community water supplies contribute to water security across the Shire. Non-potable strategic supplies are maintained for emergency livestock water and firefighting during dry periods. Groundwater conditions vary across the landscape and can be saline. Extensive clearing for agriculture has altered groundwater recharge and drainage in susceptible areas, contributing to dryland salinity, waterlogging and localised flooding. These processes have historically been important water-management issues around Perenjori and within the surrounding agricultural catchments. Maintaining reliable water supplies, harvesting and efficiently using available water, managing drainage and reducing the impacts of salinity and waterlogging remain important priorities for the Shire’s communities and agricultural landscapes.
