Swan Canning River Recovery

Swan Canning River Recovery Stage 3

Building on the successful delivery of previous rounds, Stage 3 enables Perth NRM to support direct community action improving the system integrity of the Subtropical and Temperate Coastal Saltmarshes of the Middle Canning.

This program involves a targeted approach to aquatic weed management, prioritising eradication of hydrocotyle and prevention of new aquatic weeds including Amazon Frogbit from establishing.

Community engagement and education, as with previous stages, is the primary focus of Stage 3 with funding dedicated to:

education programs to improve community environmental awareness and encourage behavioural changes,
Community workshops and events supporting localised action within the Canning River,
Converting drains to living streams and biofiltration measures to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into the estuaries,
Protecting, enhancing, and revegetating natural areas and wetlands, to improve local biodiversity.

Small ‘Open Stream’ Grants are now closed.
[updated November 2020]

The Direct Community Action Grants – Small Open Stream provided grants of up to $5,000 and enabled community groups to apply for small, one-off project tasks.

Applications for the Direct Community Action Grants have closed.

Groups operating within the Middle Canning Estuary (or its tributaries) were able to apply for grants of up to $60,000 (capped at $20,000 per year) for environmental activities and outcomes. The Swan Canning River Recovery Steering Committee has identified the following activities as high priorities to be favoured in the selection process.

- Restoring and revegetating habitat (planting native seedlings)
- Seed collection
- Invasive species control and priority weed management
- Controlling and managing site access (i.e.) fencing
- Pest animal control
- Erosion management
- Dieback and/or disease control and management
- Installation of habitat features (i.e.) bat and bird boxes
- Community capacity building events and workshops
- Environmental education and promotion events
- Debris management

Useful Links

Direct Community Action Grants 2020 Program Guidelines

Swan Canning River Recovery: Stage One

Perth NRM received funding from the National Landcare Program between 2015-2016 to deliver the first stage of our Swan-Canning River Recovery program. We worked with the community to focus on the eradication of hydrocotyle weed with the Middle Swan-Canning Rivers. We also provided support for practical community environmental action and helped people understand how their actions affect the river.

A local steering group was established to oversee the practical actions to help people identify ways they can contribute towards the rivers’ long-term health. The Swan Canning River Recovery, Stage 1 achieved the following:

7 hectares of wetland and riparian revegetation to improve habitat condition along the river foreshore.
1 research project to iron scalds and rehabilitation at Baigup Wetland.
4 hectares of weed control with a focus on hydrocotyle within riparian zones of the river and adjacent wetlands.

Perth NRM delivered this project in partnership with:

South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare
Friends of Bull Creek
Baigup Wetland Interest Group

Perth NRM was supported by the Australian Government and funded by the National Landcare Program.

Swan Canning River Recovery: Stage Two

The Swan Canning River Recovery Stage Two aimed to eradicate the hydrocotyle weed within the river system. Stage 2 provided support for practical community environmental action and helped people understand how their actions affect the river. The project has achieved:

21 hectares of hydrocotyle weed control within the Middle-Canning River catchment.
8 hectares of priority weed control within key tributaries and foreshore areas along the Swan-Canning River system.
29,054 stems planted to revegetate priority tributaries and foreshore areas along the Swan-Canning River system.
589 volunteers involved in river care projects.
2 research projects on the ecological characteristics of two priority weed species to improve long-term management.
1 community engagement program to increase awareness of the Amazon Frogbit weed.
1 capacity building program to support local governments to manage Amazon Frogbit infestations.
1 drain to living stream project at Nurdi Park.
4,686 participants involved at school and community events.

Perth NRM delivered the project in partnerships with:

South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare
Friends of Bull Creek
Friends of Bardon Park
Conservation Volunteers Australia
City of Bayswater
City of South Perth
Water Corporation

Perth NRM received support for this project through funding from the Australian Government’s Improving Your Local Parks and Environment program.

This project is supported by Perth NRM, through funding from the Australian Government.

Partners

We acknowledge and appreciate the support of all our partners, supporters, funding bodies and sponsors.

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