GeoCatch hosted a community forum at the Geographe Bay Yacht Club last night to help inform the crowd of around 45 attendees about the progress and challenges of managing water quality in Busselton’s Vasse Wonnerup wetlands and Lower Vasse River. Scientists from the Departments of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), and Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions...Continue Reading
An exciting new trial is being undertaken in the Geographe catchment investigating the effect of phosphorus application timing on pasture productivity and the environment. The trial will look at four different times and intervals of application throughout the growing season. The trial has come about in response to farmers looking to better understand the best...Continue Reading
Closed borders are not an issue for migratory birds, who fly hundreds of thousands of kilometres across the globe to find food, habitat for breeding and feeding young. The 8th May marks World Migratory Bird Day, an annual awareness raising campaign to highlight the need for conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. Locally in...Continue Reading
Keen gardeners enjoyed making great soil mixes for pots and gardens at an outdoor workshop held on Saturday in the newly beautified Kent Street Laneway in the Busselton City Centre. Led by Chris Ferreira from The Forever Project, participants got their hands dirty getting their soil mix right and planting up pallet planters with native...Continue Reading
A recent soil testing workshop brought together farmers from across the Geographe Bay Catchment to get a better handle on their soil nutrients. Thirty-seven farmers were involved in this year’s soil testing program, with 20,000 soil samples collected across 670 paddocks. Since 2009, 240 farmers have participated in soil testing in the Geographe Bay Catchment,...Continue Reading
Scientists from Edith Cowan University have started analysing and interpreting three years of fish, birds, aquatic plants, macroinvertebrates and water regime data, as part of the integrated ecological monitoring program in the Vasse Wonnerup wetlands. The analysis will help identify the relationships between water regime, food sources and abundance and distribution of waterbirds on the...Continue Reading
The GeoCatch Sustainable Agriculture Team have supported their local farmers by increasing their soil testing capacity this summer. While the program has been previously available through GeoCatch and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, this is the first year that GeoCatch staff have done the soil sampling themselves. “Soil testing is a critical...Continue Reading
Over 50 people from the local community and management agencies attended a community information session on the Lower Vasse River at the end of November. The event, coordinated by the City of Busselton, aimed to update the community on action that has been undertaken and planned to improve water quality in the Lower Vasse River....Continue Reading
Over 30 representatives from the Fertiliser industry, state government departments and researchers met in Busselton recently to hear the latest research to improve nutrient use efficiency on grazing farms in south west WA. The event, titled Fertilising for the Future: production, profitability, and the environment, showcased several on-farm fertiliser trials being undertaken across south west...Continue Reading
The complexities of water management and seawater trials in the Vasse estuary were demystified last week at a science webinar hosted by GeoCatch. The webinar was presented by Dr Linda Kalnejais from Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and is part of a series of webinars that is exploring the Vasse Wonnerup wetlands. Linda explained...Continue Reading
