Community urged to become Platypus Guardians

Published on 13 June 2023

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds says the national debut of The Platypus Guardian, a film about one man's journey towards protecting platypuses of the Hobart Rivulet, is a call to action for the community, industry and the City.

"This extraordinary film about platypus whisperer Pete Walsh should galvanise the entire community into taking greater action to protect Hobart's platypuses and the rivulets they call home," Cr Reynolds said.

"Every weekend our Bushcare volunteers are calling out for more hands on deck to help plant and protect native habitat along the Hobart Rivulet and in our bushland reserves.

"We need more eyes on the ground alerting us to contaminants entering our rivulets so that City of Hobart waterways staff and other authorities can take action.

"We need more people picking up rubbish before it enters our waterways and threatens our platypuses. It's as simple as seize it, snip it, bin it.”

The City of Hobart recently released its first ever report into the ecological health of Hobart's four major rivulets, which includes the Hobart Rivulet.

The report revealed that while those rivulets are in excellent health in their naturally forested headwaters water health drops off as they hit the urban fringe.

It identified the presence of invasive willow trees as potential culprits behind a clear drop in ecological health in Guy Fawkes Rivulet, a tributary of the Hobart Rivulet.

"The State of Our Rivulets report reinforced the need for the City of Hobart to continue sensitively removing invasive willows from the banks of our rivulets and replacing them with native canopy,” Cr Reynolds said.

"The City of Hobart is in the process of designing a better litter trap to prevent rubbish from McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre from ending up in the Hobart Rivulet.

"We are also developing a tree canopy strategy to provide cover for platypuses from predators and to regulate water temperature.

"Our staff are working more closely with industry to help educate them about how their activities can impact on waterway health and tracking pollutants from a variety of sources including concrete wash, sewer leaks and fertiliser run-off.

"We face many challenges in caring for the natural world around us, especially where it meets the urban interface, but very often real change is led by the community and individual members of our community.

"Pete Walsh has shown us that to protect the incredible natural world around us we must all be Platypus Guardians."

The Platypus Guardian will debut on national television on Tuesday (June 13) at 8.30pm on ABC and can be viewed on ABC iview.