The funding will benefit not only platypus but also a range of other species that call Victorian waterways home. Photo: Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
The Federal and Victorian governments have partnered to invest in environmental projects aimed at restoring habitats for platypus, as well as threatened frogs and native fish.
The $24 million Platy Patch initiative will improve 14 habitats across the state over the next four years under the guidance of the Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI), one of Victoria’s leading ecological research centres.
The project funding is jointly provided by the Albanese Government’s Natural Heritage Trust’s Urban Rivers and Catchments program, the Victorian Labor Government and Melbourne Water.
“Many native plants and animals are reliant on our rivers, creeks, wetlands and estuaries, which is why the Albanese Government is committed to restoring rivers and waterways in our suburbs with a $200 million investment through the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program,” Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt said.
“This funding will benefit a range of species who call these waterways home, as well as local communities, who will have better-quality urban green space.”
Platypus are vulnerable in Victoria and evidence shows a population decline.
In practice, the program will extensively revegetate habitats and control weeds, actions required to maintain the places where platypus live, such as rivers and stream banks. In addition, smart-water rain tanks will be installed along Monbulk Creek to ensure water flow is sufficient throughout the year.
The project for platypus regeneration is one of 11 in Victoria to share in $44.3 million in funding from the Federal Government’s Natural Heritage Trust under round two of the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program.
Other projects, such as Reimagining Eumemmerring Creek and Reimagining Tarralla Creek, will bring water back to the surface and recreate natural waterways in an effort to restore and preserve the habitats of native mammals, waterbirds, frogs and fish species.
This goes with more than $609 million that the Labor Government has invested in the past decade in biodiversity and the natural environment under the state’s overarching plan to stop the decline of native wildlife – Protecting Victoria’s Environment – Biodiversity 2037.
Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos said: “The platypus is an iconic Australian species and we’re making sure it, and a range of other threatened species, have the habitats they need to thrive.”
