Let’s fight nets

By CASEY NEILL
HILLS platypus protectors are stepping up their fight against opera house nets, and have received some cash to help.
In April the Mail reported that the new Platypus Monitoring Group for Monbulk Creek, Belgrave Lake Park, had vowed to keep an eye on the mysterious monotremes, which appeared to be dwindling in numbers.
Opera house nets are the Belgrave-based group’s main target.
They’re set to trap yabbies but platypus get caught inside them, can’t get out, and drown.
Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group vice president Vicki Boyle said the nets were cheap, freely available in camping shops, and required no warnings against harmful use.
“We don’t want to be party poopers and stop people having fun,” she said.
“They don’t go out there with malicious intent.
“People don’t understand how dangerous these nets are.
“We just want to make people aware that there are alternatives.”
Ms Boyle said hoop nets were like a longer and larger butterfly net that platypus could escape from.
Opera house nets are illegal in public waterways but allowed in private dams.
The group wants them banned completely.
Water Minister Peter Walsh is the State Government representative responsible for the nets.
In correspondence with Greens MP Sue Pennicuik earlier this year he said he would not ban or restrict their sale because their use in public waters was already illegal.
But Cardinia Catchment Landcare president Glenn Brooks-MacMillan said they were consistently turning up in hills creeks.
As well as pushing for a ban, the platypus group is determined to educate people about the dangers of opera house nets.
And La Trobe MP Laura Smyth this month awarded Cardinia Catchment Landcare a $19,950 Community Action Grant to aid its fight.
“This federal funding is given to people who know exactly where it’s needed and who will see projects through to the end, making a real difference to their local environment,” she said.
Mr Brooks-MacMillan said the cash would go towards engaging and educating the community on how Cardinia Creek’s health was critical for the platypus’ survival.
“We will provide practical education to the community on the habitat of the platypus and continue to co-ordinate a community awareness program specifically aimed at the conservation of the platypus,” he said.
“The project will target a section of the creek located within a busy, growing business district visited by hundreds of people every day.
“By the end of the project we want a diverse group of people to better align their everyday activities to enhance the habitat for the platypus.”