 It was great weather to visit the Albany Fish traps last weekend. Our Senior Project Officer Bruce met up with Harley Coyne and some local artists to talk about the fish traps, Oyster Harbour and our community.
Harley Coyne gave some background to the fish traps project, and then Bruce spoke on the role of Oyster Harbour Catchment Group, relationship between catchment management and water quality, through his engagement with the Healthy Estuaries WA and other programs. This visit was part of an artist's immersion event for the development of Southern Edge Arts production ‘Traps and Ladders - a guide for fish …..and humans’
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Bruce Radys, OHCG Senior Project Officer was glad to report, "The potti putkis have been dusted off with revegetation works commencing around the catchment. They have been used for sites in Kendenup, Mt Barker and the Activate tree planting in Takalarup. We still have seedlings left to plant more sites in August, with some infill required on last year's sites due to the dry conditions." We visited Mount Barker Community College on Friday 26th of July for School Tree Day to revegetate a stream restoration site adjacent to the creek. Participating in tree-planting activities can be a fun and educational experience, highlighting sustainable practices that can be implemented on a farm and beyond. We had over 80 planters including high school students and teachers. The site can be seen from the Albany Hwy and students will be able to see the trees they planted grow every time they go past. What a great way for students to see the positive impact they can have on the environment now and into the future. This was made possible through State Government's Healthy Estuaries WA program   Activate tree planting, photo credit Amber Bateup Photography Another National Tree Day event that OHCG contributed to was the Activate Tree Planting Great Southern 2024, Takalarup. As part of the Healthy Estuaries WA program, OHCG was able to provide expertise, resources and our new Rural Event Toolbox. This family-friendly tree-planting event features live music and is supported by a community of volunteers.They planted and placed tree guards for around 6000 local endemic species at the Knuckey's property (OHCG members) near the Kalgan River just east of the Porongurup Range. It was great to have this Activate tree planting in our catchment. Thank you to all the many people and businesses that made such a unique event possible. Well done Rhian Thomas (Wren) envisioning and coordinating such a huge endeavour. This support was provided as part of the Healthy Estuaries WA Program- a state government Royalties for Regions program that aims to improve the health of the South West estuaries.
If you'd like to express interest in revegetating some of your property next year, please submit your interest here: www.ohcg.org.au/eoi-revegetation-and-fencing- opportunity.html. If you'd be interested in helping us at a planting day sign up here: www.ohcg.org.au/planting-day-volunteer.html We have many iconic and unique trees and natural locations in the Oyster Harbour Catchment area. However, our environment and trees have been impacted with approximately 70% of our native vegetation cleared. Australia’s environment was reported in the 2021 State of the Environment Report as “poor and deteriorating”. Clearing of native vegetation is a major cause of habitat loss and fragmentation, as well as heritage and biodiversity decline. Land clearing has been implicated in the listing of 60% of Australia’s threatened species under the EPBC Act. Clearing also leads to processes that degrade soils such as erosion, salinisation, loss of organic matter and depleted fertility. Oyster Harbour Catchment Group and our community have been fostering a more sustainable use of our natural resources for more than 30 years including the strategic planting of native trees to limit this detrimental impact of land clearing. We average 10-15 ha revegetated a year in partnership with local farmers and other stakeholders. We recognise that significant events such as National Tree Day are a great annual opportunity to encourage individuals, families, schools, community groups, and businesses to come together and get their hands dirty for a good cause. Since its inception in 1996, National Tree Day has continued to gain momentum Australia- wide inspiring thousands of Australians to participate. As a result, 27 million trees have been planted by 5 million volunteers over the last 28 years (www.treeday.planetark.org). It provides an opportunity for individuals of all ages to connect with nature and learn about the importance of environmental stewardship. Tree planting fosters a sense of community bringing people together to work towards a shared goal.  Media release and photos were provided by Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and Project Officer, Bruce Radys. A new scientific monitoring boat, named “Paarndi” by the local community, was launched in Albany/ Kinjarling this morning after being voted on by more than 200 community members. Denmark local, 11-year-old Leeuwin, suggested the name, which is a Noongar word for Black Bream. As Leeuwin highlighted, “Paarndi stay in the estuary for their entire lives” making it the perfect name for a boat who will spend most of its life in our estuaries. Leeuwin was sure to include other fun facts about bream in his submission including how they can live up to 30 years, have strong teeth that can break clams and crabs and can live in fresh or salty water. Paarndi was one of four finalists selected by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation in the naming process and Leeuwin has secured the opportunity to join scientists on a trip to monitor Oyster Harbour/Miaritch or Wilson Inlet/Nullaki/. The boat will be used by the department’s Healthy Estuaries WA program to track the condition of Oyster Harbour/Miaritch, Wilson Inlet/ Nullaki, and surrounding South Coast estuaries. The vessel is an upgrade from its predecessor, which is retiring after 35 years of service. The boat was constructed in Albany/Kinjarling, drawing on local expertise and supporting regional businesses. Senior Project Officer, Bruce Radys said, "We all love Oyster Harbour, but spare a thought for DWER water quality monitoring staff who have to carry out monitoring throughout the year in all kinds of conditions (It Albany - not always sunny). The new boat 'Paarndi' should make life on the harbour a little easier, helping to continue gathering essential water quality information to monitor and manage Oyster Harbour, Wilson Inlet and other South Coast water bodies. Congratulations to Leeuwin for submitting such a great name." Insights from the estuary water quality monitoring are available on the Healthy Estuaries WA Facebook page and website estuaries.dwer.wa.gov.au. Community members can also hear from scientists about the health of their local estuary at annual science forum events. Healthy Estuaries WA is a State Government program that aims to improve the health of our South West estuaries.  Over 30 farmers received their soil test reports at the recent ‘Pastures for Profit’ workshop, held at the Middleton Beach Bowling Club this year. As part of the Healthy Estuaries WA Nutrient Management Program, a joint effort between farmers, DPIRD, DWER, and Oyster Harbour Catchment Group to complete mapping, sampling, and analysis of local soils, many were keen to see the results for their paddocks. This year the majority of farmers participated in carrying out their own sampling after training in using equipment and GPS recording of sampling transects. It was an informative and interesting workshop, with a range of activities and demonstrations aimed at increasing understanding of aspects such as PBI, acidity, phosphorous response, and use of the Nutrient Calculator. Participants now have the ability to enter their results into the Nutrient Calculator to give a recommended rate of fertilizer to achieve their desired production level. Thanks to Motel Le Grande for providing delicious catering for the day and the DPIRD team for continuing to develop the program. Special thanks to David Weaver (DPIRD) who is retiring, for his dedication and excellent work in improving nutrient management in the South West of WA.   Accuspread workshops to test and calibrate local fertilizer spreaders were held across the three South Coast catchments, Wilson Inlet, Torbay and Oyster Harbour in March thanks to the Healthy Estuaries WA program. For the Oyster Harbour workshop, we gathered at the Hourston property in Redmond and ran three different machines over the trays then checked the graphs produced showing spread pattern and recommended bout width for each machine. Typical Bunuru weather, with a light misty rain prevented further testing so we postponed the remaining tests to the following day at Norton's place. Over 14 calibration runs were carried out with 2 machines on various settings to try and achieve the best spread pattern. Thanks to Russell Nichol for carrying out the testing, host farmers, DPIRD and DWER staff for assisting during the day. Many of us were a bit stiff and sore on the second day after bending over to empty all the trays numerous times.   Our 2023 Oyster Harbour Estuary Forum was a great event. Nearly 80 people joined us at the Lower Kalgan Hall. It was fabulous to get an update from all the amazing people working hard to discover and recover our harbour including the Healthy Estuaries WA (HEWA) program, Albany Senior High School guests, and guests from many different backgrounds including scientists, government, research staff, students, industry, community members and volunteers. Thank you to everyone who came to this year's Oyster Harbour Estuary Forum We are so grateful for:
 We had a blast at this year's Albany Agricultural Show. We had a steady flow of people attending our display. Many kids came and found us, eager to play with our catchment model shooting down feral animals and seeing how water flows through the landscape followed by some more educational games with Jenni Loveland from Albany and Surrounds Feral Cat Working Group. While the kids were busy with the games there was plenty of information for the adults to read up on and posters illustrating the wide variety of natural resources management opportunities, resources, and staff/ volunteers to talk to from Torbay Catchment Group, Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee, and our regional body South Coast NRM. We are thankful that we could participate in such a great show with our fellow catchment groups. Jenni's Perspective I love the Albany show as I am so passionate about responsible cat ownership, reducing the roaming stray population, and increasing feral control. The show is an opportunity for me to pass the information to as many people as possible. I might say though being a big kid at heart my favourite age to teach are the Kiddies! I have some really fun interpretive games on facts about the damage that roaming cats both owned and unowned are doing to our environment and rates that cats can breed if given the right circumstances, which are quite staggering and deserve a gasp or two. I guess the highlight for me would be that they go away remembering what they have learnt, repeat visitors from previous years come back to learn more and when asked about what they have learned after talking to me they KNOW the answer. To me, THIS is what it is all about, teaching the next generation so that they may make a difference. Oh, and I am pretty sure the adults also learn with my “kids” games as well as much as they pretend not to. It also gives me a chance to improve my school education “CATastrope” skills and to chat with parents and teachers about attending schools with this education program that is linked to sustainability and Aboriginality in the curriculum. If you would like to learn more, please email [email protected] Jenni's Photo 1- Adults pretending not to laugh and have fun as they put a hand where no ungloved hand should go. Jenni's Photo 2- Me lost in the crowd of children when they become “vets and Scientists” and discover what is inside a cats stomach. Jenni's Photo 3- A beautiful letter that a 5-year-old asked her mother to write me after a visit to our display, it was so beautiful to come back to after my lunch break. October 2023: Healthy Estuaries WA was a finalist in Premier’s Science Awards for science engagement13/10/2023  The Healthy Estuaries WA fertiliser management program has been announced as a Premier’s Science Award finalist in the Science Engagement Initiative of the Year category. The program engages farmers with science to make informed decisions about how they use fertiliser, which can push waterway ecosystems out of balance when applied in excess. Since 2016, more than 1,000 farmers have expanded their scientific literacy of soil and plant science, water quality, nutrient management, and biological ecosystems through the program. As a result, there has been a 46 percent reduction in the amount of phosphorus (a nutrient of major concern) applied on participating farms. Tim Crimp, local dairy farmer and chair of the program’s Sustainable Agriculture Project Reference Group, was delighted to hear that the efforts of farmers and the many partners involved in the program were being recognised. “The fertiliser management program is a great example of science being put into action in the real world,” Tim said. “As farmers taking part in the program, we get access to a range of experts to help us interpret the science behind what nutrients different areas of our farm need, enabling us to make decisions about our fertiliser use that are directly informed by the latest science. “Having farmers and scientists working together like this helps us make sure we are making the best decisions we can for our farm’s production while protecting the environment where excess nutrients can cause harm. “Many farmers are really proactive in this space and welcome the opportunity to get involved in programs like Healthy Estuaries WA, but it’s not often we can share the good news about our efforts with the general community beyond our industry.” Catchment groups within the catchments of seven focus estuaries are key partners in delivering the program, which is led by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Learn more about this program at our 2023 Oyster Harbour Forum. on the 1st of Nov.    In June 2023 Soil Wise, a collaborative project to help farmers and land managers improve their soil health and nutrient management, supported a roadshow across seven catchments in south-west WA to encourage farmers and landholders to build their knowledge and skills to make and use compost. The workshops were presented in collaboration with Lower Blackwood LCDC, Peel-Harvey Catchment Council, Leschenault Catchment Council, GeoCatch, Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee, Torbay Catchment Group and Oyster Harbour Catchment Group. Every workshop was full, with some locations even having to prepare a waitlist, culminating in over 200 land managers attending the events. The days were packed with information, kicking off with Composting 101 and followed by a hands-on compost-making demonstration. Building a whole range of composts: Fermented Compost, Johnson Su Bioreactor, and Thermal Aerobic pile. Willyung Farm hosted our full-day event with expert Mark Tupman of Productive Ecology including 26 participants mainly other farmers. Giving locals a chance to see a larger-scale farm composting system in action. Feedback has been incredibly positive and there’s lots of enthusiasm for both large and small-scale composting as well as plenty of interest in making compost teas and extracts for seed coatings. Soil Wise funded the workshops. Soil Wise is funded by the National Landcare Program Smart Farms Small Grants – an Australian Government initiative. It is supported by Healthy Estuaries WA – a State Government program. Visit the Soil Wise events calendar to see upcoming events across South-West WA: https://estuaries.dwer.wa.gov.au/soil-wise/events/  |
Author: Bruce Radys
Senior Project Officer Archives
August 2024
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