news from our healthy environments team.

Well done to the enthusiastic year 10 students (and teachers!) from Bethel Christian School who attended South Coast NRM’s recent community participation event at Yakanup Park (Amity Reach) on Yakamia Creek.

Under a bright blue sky, the students considered the importance and plight of urban waterways, which are often extensively degraded due to human encroachment and exploitation of the valuable resources they contain. The students also learned about various aspects of stream restoration and monitoring from South Coast NRM staff and special guests from UWA Albany, Dr Paul Close and Master’s student Holly Butterworth. Lindsay Dean provided a valuable Noongar cultural perspective to the discussion, and the group contemplated how a co-management approach might be used to better inform future restoration efforts for the benefit of the whole community.

Yakanup Park is a section of degraded urban creek line that is being transformed through a staged works program involving recontouring of the bank, erosion control, weeding, and revegetation. The results from community planting days on the southern bank late last year have been spectacularly successful so far, and the northern bank is now ready for a similar makeover, with more planting days planned for when wetter weather arrives.

This project is a part of Healthy Estuaries WA – a State Government Royalties for Regions program that aims to improve the health of our South West estuaries. The event was run in collaboration with the South Coast Enviro Experiences project supported by Lotterywest. Thanks to the City of Albany for their ongoing support in the care of Yakanup Park.