From the desk of Natalie, Projects Leader. 

Today South Coast NRM launched a new animated dieback video at the Dieback Information Group Conference in Perth. The short film, which aims to increase awareness of Phytophthora dieback and hygiene precautions to new audiences in WA, was met with enthusiastic praise from 150 conference attendees. 

Dieback is a microscopic pathogen that is easily spread and leads to disease and death in susceptible plants. There is no cure for dieback which causes permanent and irreversible impacts to native ecosystems including reduced biodiversity and biomass along with the loss of habitat for native animals. Dieback spreads through water and soil with humans responsible for moving the disease over vast areas.  

The animated video, shown below, is a great way to share the message with your friends on social media and for groups that visit national parks and bushland areas such as bushwalkers, horse riders, mountain bikers, and four-wheel drivers. There was great excitement and ideas for sharing the message at the Dieback Conference, including through airlines and airports, film festivals and other variations.

We all need to make sure that dieback is contained in areas that are already infested and doesn’t spread to un-infested bushland.  

We can help stop the spread by making sure our boots and gear are clean when we are going into our beautiful bushland areas, stick to paths and plan your adventure when the soil is dry. 

Please share the video and help protect our native vegetation from dieback. Every step counts, keep yours clean.  

This project is supported by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program. 

For more information, please contact Natalie (p) 9845 8537 (e) natalier@southcoastnrm.com.au