The Peel Region in perspective
Mandurah means ‘meeting place’...
in the Nyoongar language. Prior to colonial settlement, the Mandurah area was a major meeting and camping place for local Aboriginal people of the south-west of Western Australia.

The shallow, productive waters of the estuary provided a reliable source of fish, crabs and prawns. Even in dry periods, fresh water was available from fresh water lakes and swamps on the coastal plain surrounding the estuary.

The Colonial Period
The first Europeans to sail on the waters of the Peel Inlet were a party from the HMS Sulphur who entered the ‘expanded sheet of water’ in two whaleboats in 1829 (the year of settlement of the Swan River). The colonists decided that the area would be suitable for settlement and by mid-1830, Thomas Peel and a group of settlers had begun to take up land. Despite early hardship, produce from the Peel region became an important source of food for the colony.

Adapting to Change
Agriculture has remained an important land-use in the Peel Region. Before the development of the Mariner’s Cove estate and creation of this reserve, the area was part of a farming property owned by the Tuckey family.

Despite changing land use in the Mandurah area, the Creery Wetlands continues to be an important refuge for wildlife, especially waterbirds. The creation of the Creery Wetlands Nature Reserve has provided a protected place for wildlife in this rapidly developing area.