Barwon River Platypus Search

NOTE: THIS PROJECT IS BEEN FINISHED

The Friends of the Barwon has initiated a platypus monitoring project for the mid reaches of the Barwon River and its tributaries. 

This monitoring will provide quantitative base line data and add to the data recently collected in the upper reaches of the Barwon and the Moorabool river system. 

This project is being coordinated by members of the Geelong Landcare Network community and EnviroDNA, with generous support from the Tucker Foundation, Geelong Landcare Network and the Bendigo Bank. 

It will use innovative techniques and assistance from local communities to investigate the current state of platypuses throughout the region so that we can prioritise further waterway health projects to those areas where our platypus need the most help. 

We are calling for volunteers to assist by collecting water samples for eDNA testing. 

There will be 2 information sessions for the volunteers, one at Fyansford and another at Inverleigh on Sunday 10th October.  

Volunteers will receive instruction on how to correctly collect the water samples by a wildlife ecologist from EnviroDNA.  Samples will be collected by volunteers from designated sites over the following week before they are collected and analysed by EnviroDNA. 

Waterwatch will also be in attendance on the 10th and have information on the water quality testing volunteers conduct monthly across our catchment, as well as a hands-on display of macro invertebrates and the different testing equipment and techniques used.