Rob Boase

Rob Boase is a farmer turned nursery co-owner with his wife Beth on their property south of Dowerin, and he has made the protection and rehabilitation of the unique, beautiful and endemic flora and fauna of the West Australian Wheatbelt Region his mission.  When Rob and Beth bought the property in 1973, Rob started revegetating sections of the property that were going saline due to the surrounding land being over-cleared.  They also fenced off areas of high conservation value containing rare and endangered plants.  Their property exhibits an outstanding example of how best to conserve and improve fragmented vegetation complexes in the Wheatbelt.

In 1996 they opened their own commercial nursery, Arinya Plants, with a seedling capacity of 250,000.  Here they propagated Wheatbelt specific plants including saline tolerant plants to help combat the devastating salinity problem.

After more than 20 years of operating the nursery Rob and his wife have now retired while Rob now follows a more consultancy and environmental protection role.  Rob has worked with Wheatbelt NRM and National Trust to place a conservation covenant to protect 215ha of the natural vegetation on their property.  While following his lifelong passion for the natural environment, Rob has worked with his local Landcare groups and been a member of the Central Wheatbelt Threatened Flora Recovery Team, a member of the Roadside Conservation Council, a long term volunteer with DBCA since it was known as CALM, a life member of the Toodyay Naturalists’ Club and currently a volunteer with Wheatbelt NRM.

In recognition of his tireless work to provide the Wheatbelt region with appropriate seedlings and advice for revegetation and his dedication to protect the natural environment, Rob was endowed with WA’s Individual Landcarer Award in 2017.