Does your local Catchment Management
Plan consider the needs of platypus?
Platypus are an excellent biological indicator of the
productivity of aquatic ecosystems, given that they cannot survive without
large amounts of food being present throughout the year in the form of smaller
freshwater animals (particularly invertebrates).
As well, platypus populations require lengthy sections
of healthy creekside habitat for their long-term survival. The home ranges
of some radio-tagged males living around Melbourne have been found to extend
more than 7 kilometres, with female home ranges sometimes stretching more
than 4 kilometres. Especially in the weeks just before and during the breeding
season, adult males are known to travel more than 15 kilometres in search
of mates.
Isolated patches of remnant habitat may therefore not
be sufficient to support a viable platypus population. Likewise, restoring
a small section of degraded creek will not necessarily guarantee that the
area is suitable for recolonisation by this species.
The key to successful long-term platypus conservation
is undoubtedly the development (and implementation) of catchment-wide plans
to manage land and water resources. This approach will help to ensure that
environmental problems are identified and addressed systematically. It
will also reduce wasted effort - for example, situations where tree plantings
have been damaged or destroyed by later flood control or bank stabilisation
works.
You can help by finding out whether your council is
working with the regional Catchment Management Authority and other relevant
agencies to develop an integrated plan for protecting your local creek or
river. As part of this process, care should be taken to ensure that proposed
modifications to waterways (undertaken to reduce flooding, stabilise banks,
improve drainage, supply water, enable bridges to be built, or develop boat
ramps and other recreational facilities) are designed to protect existing
platypus habitat or strengthen the area's potential to support the species
in the future.
As well, actively support the work of local Landcare
groups and other community-based conservation organisations to improve the
environmental quality of the landscape around streams, lakes and rivers.
By protecting our waterways, we help not only platypus
but the many other species which rely on healthy freshwater systems - including
ourselves!