It’s taken four well-lived decades for Craig Wilson to crystalise into words something he has always known: Without nature, people don’t exist.
It might sound a little abstract at first, but the facts are hard to deny – humans have a practical, biological and philosophical reliance on nature and our place in it, nestled among the plants and animals. It forms a fundamental part of our identity.
It’s this resonant vibe that keeps the Cockburn Coastcare Coordinator returning to the shoreline day after day.
A Cockburn resident of 22 years, Craig received a Coastal Champion Special Commendation at the Western Australian Coastal Awards for Excellence in late 2025.
It is recognition of Craig’s tireless dedication to improving dune health, restoring habitats and recruiting thousands of volunteers in the fight against climate change, starting at a favourite place to connect with nature – the beach.
His professional relationship with Perth’s Indian Ocean coastline began in 2004 as Perth NRMs Coastal and Marine Program Manager, a role he retired from in 2019.
Literally the next day he rolled over his knowledge and passion into a volunteering role with Cockburn Coastcare – that was seven years ago.
As a result, the Cockburn coast, particularly Coogee Beach, is known in conservation circles as one of Perth’s most actively managed areas of coastline.
Craig is Quintessentially Cockburn and Coogee Beach with its precious coastal heath are his favourite places to get a simultaneous dose of peace and purpose.
And after years of reflection, Craig now knows where the urge to care for the coast came from – his mum.
“I remember she would push me along the beach in a pram as a small child where we lived in Torquay, Victoria,” Craig said.
“And despite 10 gap years after high school where I did everything from office work to fabrication, I always had that little bit of sand between the toes.
“I also think I’m a success story of the federal government when mature age students were encouraged to get a university education in the 1980s.
“I chose a science degree in coastal management at Southern Cross University in Lismore, NSW, because I knew it would create opportunities for employment and travel.
“I wanted to prevent the limitations of staying in the same place.”
Despite Craig’s first post-university job being jackhammering geological samples at a Northern Territory gold mine, he eventually ended up a world away on the isolated coral atoll Republic of Kiribati for two years as an Australian volunteer assisting the government with environmental management.
Complex climate change coastal management scenarios, including monitoring for the splashdown of Japanese satellites, provided some vital on-the-job experience in the Pacific Ocean.
He followed it up with four years with the South Pacific Regional Environment Program in Samoa accompanied by his wife who worked at the Australian High Commission.
While his retirement from the workforce naturally rolled into using his skillset at a community volunteer level, it also provides Craig with a raft of new perspectives he could never have predicted.
A surprisingly rewarding experience delivering education workshops and excursions to local primary school students had the young cohort calling him ‘Coastcare Craig’ in no time.
“I didn’t know it, but young kids are very curious about the world. They also have the power to help their parents adopt a more environmentally aware position in their busy everyday lives.”
He also brings together hundreds of locals each year for coastal planting and rehabilitation days.
“Last year we had 100 people each at two planting sessions, people who want to be involved in nurturing nature in their own backyard.
“I think it stems from a general concern about climate change and I have more and more people asking me what they can do to help.
“I always say do something small but be consistent, because lots of people doing something small creates a big movement of people doing the right thing for their local environment.”
Cockburn Coastcare is fortunate to be involved with the Green S Team, members of Perth’s Indian diaspora who participate in sustainability and conservation activities.
They contribute to Craig’s annual winter planting days by supplying a homemade vegetarian lunch for participants who enjoy a meal of dahl, pickled vegetables and roti greatly appreciated in the cooler weather.
“Why do I keep going? It’s the people who turn up, with a passion of their own for looking after the sand dune system and I feed on that energy. It keeps me motivated in a way I never knew was possible,” he said.
“When I look back at my love of the coastal environment, it all comes down to mum and our trips to the beach when I was young.
“And she was always doing something for the community, it wasn’t labelled as volunteering back then, it was just what she did. I think I picked up her duty to serve her community by osmosis.”
When he’s not looking after his big garden by the ocean, Craig spends time in his home nursery propagating native coastal plants.
He and his wife also monitor the Osprey pole at Coogee Beach where three fledglings have been successfully reared for the first time since its installation by the City of Cockburn 14 years ago.
The pair also enjoy regular walks along the Coogee Beach coastal heath where a previous project monitoring wildlife camera footage revealed an abundant population of quenda.
Find out about local coastal planting days each winter by keeping an eye on Events and Workshops listings on the City of Cockburn
website.
Article and images by Michele Nugent
Media & Communications Advisor
City of Cockburn
Telephone: 9411 3551
Email:
[email protected]