Liam McNally
The Moorabool Catchment Landcare Group (MCLG) is hosting a community planting day to protect and enhance critical platypus habitat on Saturday, July 22.
MCLG is a not for profit that works with private landholders to try and create a more sustainable future for the Moorabool catchments.
MCLG aims to plant 500 native plants on a tributary to the West Moorabool River near Elaine on the day, from 10am to 2pm.
The planting day will also include a morning tea and discussion on platypus conservation in the Moorabool catchment and what the community can do to help our local platypus populations.
MCLG landcare coordinator Jackson Cass said that community engagement will ensure the preservation and enhancement of vital platypus habitat for generations to come and enhance the native vegetation cover in the landscape.
“It’s a unique opportunity to be able to contribute to the betterment of our environment and wildlife while seeing a part of the country that you wouldn’t be able to normally see,” he said.
The targeted planting comes following MCLG platypus surveys throughout the waterways of the Moorabool catchment using an innovative technology known as Environmental DNA (eDNA).
eDNA involves taking a water sample from a waterway, which is then screened for platypus DNA fragments back in the lab.
The results of these surveys showed the West Moorabool River is critical platypus habitat.
Mr Cass said a lot of the private land owners in the catchment are positive and good to work with on the project.
“They ultimately do it because they want to see the health of our wildlife improve in the long term. There’s a lot of people in the Moorabool catchment doing really good work,” he said.
Details: events.humanitix.com/platypus-planting-day
