Local farmers have given a boost to the health of Geographe waterways over the last three years with support from GeoCatch to fence 40 km of waterways and undertake 11 hectares of revegetation to protect stream-side vegetation and improve water quality.
Lamb producer, Chris Mayfield, co-owner of Perivale Lamb in Upper Capel recently installed 3.6 kilometres of fencing to exclude stock from 15 hectares of foreshore on the iconic Capel River.
“Our property has been operational for the last 91 years. We currently run 1500 breading ewes and up until the last 12 months our creek tributaries have been unfenced” said Chris.
“It is extremely important for us to protect our waterways as the mechanism to limit adverse downstream effects to the ecosystem; not only for our productivity but also for our neighbours”.
The previous property owners fenced a small section of the northern tributary through a previous GeoCatch project approximately five years ago, with outstanding results.
“The regeneration of the creek system has been amazing with noticeable positive effects around the surrounding paddocks.” said Chris.
GeoCatch Coordinator Jen Mitchell says the response from farmers has been very positive.
“Farmers like Chris who have been involved in our fencing program have not only witnessed the visible improvement to the environment, but their stock management has improved as well,” she said.
“It’s great to show that protecting waterways also makes good business sense for the farming community.”
The fencing caps off an ambitious three year project to protect rivers and streams of the Geographe catchment. Using the support of GeoCatch through the Revitalising Geographe Waterways program, farmers have embraced the opportunity to do their bit to help local waterways across eight different catchments between Capel and Dunsborough.
This project is part of the Revitalising Geographe Waterways program that aims to improve water quality, waterway health and management of Geographe waterways.