The Region

The Northern Agricultural Region (NAR) covers 7.5 million hectares in Western Australia’s wheatbelt, stretching across valuable agricultural land and environmental sites. The NAR extends from the Shire of Gingin in the South to the Shire of Northampton in the north as well inland to include Mullewa, Morawa, Perenjori and Dalwallinu. The coastline and waters out to three nautical miles, including the Houtman Abrolhos Islands and islands of the Turquoise Coast, also form part of the region.

The Northern Agricultural Region (NAR) is home to around 71,500 people, with approximately 60% of the population living in the City of Greater Geraldton. Population is strongly concentrated along the coast, with approximately 89% of NAR residents living within coastal local government areas. The region is an important producer of food for both domestic and export markets. It also forms part of the internationally recognised Southwest Australia Biodiversity Hotspot and is home to an extraordinary diversity of native plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.

Some of the critical natural resource management priorities in the NAR are working with local communities to build healthy and productive soils in the face of acidity, salinity and wind erosion, maintain water quality and quantity and ensure that our unique flora and fauna have access to enough good quality habitat to sustain them in the long term.