Bunbury man Adrian Azzari-Colley talks about his passion for conservation

Mr Azzari-Colley has only been part of the catchment council for just under ten years, but he believes the work the council does on a local level does make an impact.

His story doesn't start there though.

Actually, it is hard to know where to start Mr Azzari-Colley's story as he has had an amazing journey which has led to him to where he is now.

Mr Azzari-Colley grew up in Perth and moved to Bunbury in his mid 20s as an english teacher.

But after four years, he and his wife decided to sell up and travel around the world for two years.

"It was a really good insight into the rest of the world, especially the third world," he said.

"Then came home and thought 'my god what a privileged country we live in'".

Mr Azzari-Colley casually mentioned how he and his wife had guns pointed at them in Argentina and how they were near bomb blasts by freedom fighters in Honduras.

Once they settled back into Australia, Mr Azzari-Colley worked for the Commonwealth working with Aboriginals.

From around the year 2000 Mr Azzari-Colley set up a private consultancy business but continued his work with Aboriginals and helping them set up their own businesses.

"I was very privileged to work with aboriginal people with a strong cultural background," he said.

During this time he learnt about seed collection and harvesting.

"I worked with a group of Martu women, which was a fantastic experience," he said.

"I could see their cultural knowledge, their botanical knowledge, they were botanists extraordinaire."

So in 2016, when Mr Azzari-Colley decided to have a bigger role with the catchment council he wanted to use what he learnt.

"When I came to Leschenault Catchment Council I could see the opportunity to develop it into a social enterprise," he said.

Becoming a social enterprise has allowed the council to not fully rely on government funding to undergo work.

Mr Azzari-Colley also realised that the council needed more engagement with the Noongar community.

So the council has reformed and created a business plan which has four key priorities.

"Sustainable agriculture, water quality and biodiversity conservation which is underpinned by social enterprise and aboriginal engagement," he said.

"Even though we face global warming it is possible for us to work on a local level to ameliorate the impact."

A project Mr Azzari-Colley really wants to see implemented is using goats to eradicate blackberry bushes.

He said blackberries was the number one weed in Australia. At the moment the council has a grant to spray the weed but it is a four year process to get rid of the bush completely.

"Goats don't stop eating and they can eat nasty stuff and survive because they have super charged livers and once they are done you just move them on to the next spot," he said.

The council has also played a big role in improving the health of the Leschenault Estuary, which Mr Azzari-Colley said plummeted about ten years ago.

While Mr Azzari-Colley hopes to pass the chairman baton on at the end of the year, there is always a chance that he can be convinced to stay on.

"I don't feel old yet, I still have vitality and things I'm interested in," he said.

"I want to be able to say to my grand daughters 'I did my bit to save the planet'.

"I look at them and I know what's coming and I think, how can I step away from that responsibility?"