MUNDARING’s Munda Biddi northern terminus is the starting point of a 1067km trail two friends will ride on a tandem bike to raise awareness and funds for protecting forests.

Friends Kenny Ruellot and Johnathan Dane are riding from Mundaring to Albany over a three-week period to support the Western Australian Forest Alliance’s (WAFA) campaigns to protect forests from threats across the Southwest.

Mr Ruellot said time spent exploring the state and its natural features was an eye-opener for him.

“The more time we spend exploring Western Australia, the deeper our connection grows to this special part of the world, and the more we become aware of the challenges it faces,” he said.

“Loss of biodiversity, climate change, forest mining, out of date prescribed burning practices, and more.”

Mr Dane said he wanted to see biodiversity hotspots protected.

“WA’s nature has given so much to the two of us, and we feel a deep responsibility to protect it in return,” he said.

“We’re doing our part to protect them in tandem.”

The two have set a goal of raising $5000 for WAFA’s conservation efforts and have raised $4948 as of September 30.

According to the Tourism WA website, the name Munda Biddi means path through the forest in Noongar language.

The pair have been documenting their journey on the trail and have posted footage on their social media pages of the Alcoa mining zones they passed during a detour on their trip south.

The path led the two past the Jarrahdale Forest where Alcoa previously mined and said they were successfully rehabilitating.

“Saw some beautiful forest as well as some unsuccessful regenerated forest that looks totally dead,” the post said.

“This is one of many sites you come close to.

“No bird in sight or can be heard.

“We could hear the sound of the dump trucks from afar.

“(It) is quite shattering to go through (these) places and (to know) it’s happening at such a large scale and that it’s about to get even bigger.”

Donations to the pair can be made at the WAFA website.