City partners with Baysie locals to save turtles
Local residents have volunteered to protect the City’s snake-necked turtle population in wetlands across Bayswater.
The City of Bayswater has partnered with Murdoch University and Enviro House to help conserve the declining number of southwestern snake-necked turtles, with support from local residents playing a key role.
Funded by Lotterywest, the Saving Our Snake Necked Turtle Project aims to upskill the community to track the threatened turtles and conduct important population and predation tracking surveys across Western Australia.
Fourteen local residents volunteered to protect the City’s snake-necked turtle population in wetlands across Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary, Gobba Lake and Maylands Lake.
The volunteers monitored turtle populations at the three sites using the TurtleSAT app and provided the nesting females and nests with much needed protection from predators and road trauma.
The program ran for 10 weeks and resulted in 71 turtle sightings and 14 nest sightings, with all accessible nests protected.
Data from the project will be analysed by the team at Murdoch University and will directly inform future turtle conservation and management actions. The City will also use the valuable data recorded by residents to better protect Bayswater’s turtle population.
The City is committed to working with our community to support Bayswater’s biodiversity and enhance our native wildlife.
Pictured: Deputy Mayor Catherine Ehrhardt with Enviro House Capacity Building Projects Coordinator Nadine Wright Toussaint and volunteers Joanne and Colleen.