KALAMUNDA’s Bibbulmun Track Northern Terminus was a meeting point for walkers on WA Day to join Ricky England on his Big Jarrah Walk (BJW) towards a rally at parliament house.

Mr England said he arrived in Kalamunda with a small group and met up with 25 new hikers, and an additional eight who joined from Victoria Park.

The 30km from the northern terminus to parliament was part of Mr England’s 250km walk from Dwellingup to Perth which he did across 10 days.

Mr England said he chose the Kalamunda meeting point because it was the terminus of the track and symbolised a doorstep to the surrounding bushlands.

He said he wanted to do this walk to raise funds for the WA Forest Alliance in an effort to end forest mining by Alcoa and South32.

“The walk was a way to connect with the country that is under threat and to be in it, and to bear witness,” he said.

Mr England said he was amazed at the people he encountered throughout the walk and at the parliament house rally.

“When I looked at the crowd, it was just such a diversity of people from all over Perth.”

He said the oldest trekker who joined him was 73 years old and the youngest was 18.

“There were all ages represented.

“This is not a group of activists or hippies – these are real Western Australians from all walks of life who really care about this issue.”

During the walk Mr England said he was saddened by the sight along the Darling Range crossing.

“You look out across the Darling Range, and you can see the strip mining on one side of the range.

“On the other side is this beautiful section of pristine bush.”

On the Tuesday after the rally Mr England said he looked at the footage from his journey and was overwhelmed with emotion.

“When I started out, initially I hoped I don’t walk on my own.

“I would have been excited if we got 50 or 100 people.

“And by the time we got to parliament we were in the thousands.”

Mr England invited Premier Roger Cook, Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn and EPA chair Darren Walsh to join him on the walk.

Mr Walsh said the EPA regularly engaged with community stakeholders to ensure it was fully informed about environmental impact assessments.

“Only last week the EPA extended the length of the public consultation period for the two Alcoa assessments it currently has before it,” Mr Walsh said.

The Premier and the Environment Minister have been contacted for comment.