The Western Australia Government has announced a new $2 million initiative to improve disability access in the states ‘national parks.
Accessible Parks WA is a partnership between the State Government, Nature Play WA and Break the Boundary to develop trails, paths, canoe ramps, boardwalks and activity hubs, as well as improved visitor information on the Explore Parks WA website for people with disability.
Nature Play WA will also deliver events, lesson plans for schools and employ innovative methods to share WA’s unique ecology and Aboriginal culture, so that families of children of all abilities can enjoy areas including nature reserves, marine parks and national parks.
Break the Boundary, which supports adaptive mountain biking and trail use, will build on its existing activity hub near Kalamunda by developing two new regional activity hubs.
The four main components of the Accessible Parks WA initiative include improvements for visitors with disability in parks including Perth Hills, Walpole-Nornalup, Lake Kepwari, Yanchep and Dryandra; an ‘Every Kid in a Park’ initiative to connect children with disability to the conservation estate via an app; develop in-park access experiences for visitors with disability, with two regional activity hubs and disability access information improvements on the Explore Parks WA website.