Gallery

On Thursday 31 July 2008 the Department of Water staff together with Pinjarra SHS staff/students, Wilgie Creek Restoration Group and the North Yunderup community planted approx.. 1300 trees and shrubs and 1200 reeds along two sections of Wilgie Creek Reserve Lot 303 Towera Road to Balanada Way North Yunderup



Group Honours Pledge At the 2008 Crab Fest Friends of Rivers,Peel (FoR,Peel) were given donations from the public who visited the groups display.FoR,Peel gave a commitment to the donors that their money would be used to purchase trees to be planted in the Peel region. This pledge was met on the 10 th of June when FoR,Peel with assistance from The Department of Water, staff and students from the Bilyidar programme planted 500 trees on Meeyip Island in the Murray River Delta. Local volunteer Marcus McGregor provided a barge to transport the volunteers, equipment and Shire of Murray staff onto the island. The Shire of Murray staff removed the remains of a squatter’s humpy and the planting team picked up another 6 bags of rubbish from around the island. A well earned sausage sizzle was then enjoyed on Culleenup Island. Friends of Rivers, Peel were recently recognised for their commitment to the Peel waterways when they won the Telstra/Channel 10 Environment Award for May for Western Australia. The award came in the form of a plaque and a cheque for $2000.00 which will be used for a future project.


Telstra/Channel 10 Environment Award Friends of Rivers, Peel have been recognised for their environmental work in winning the Western Australian state award for May 2008. Michael Shultz the Channel 10 weather reporter presented the award to members Shirley Joiner, Ross and Maureen Campbell on the banks of the Murray River at Murray Lakes Resort on the 22 nd of May. Friends of Rivers, Peel received public recognition for their work as well as a plaque and a cheque for $2000.00 to be used for plants at a yet to be decided site on the Peel Waterways. Friends of Rivers, Peel wishes to thank Telstra and Channel 10 for sponsoring this prestigious and worthwhile award.


26 September 2007 Wilgie Creek North Yunderup On the 26 th of September 2007 Friends of Rivers, Peel in partnership with Peel Preservation Group, Department of Water and Pinjarra Senior High School carried out a major planting on a 300 metre section of the southern reach of Wilgie Creek in North Yunderup. The group planted 2000 Juncus Pallidus, 200 Juncus Kraussii Reeds and 200 Melaleuca Cuticularis. The Juncus Kraussii were payed for by Friends of Rivers, Peel and a very generous donation from Marion Timms a long standing supporter and adviser to Friends of Rivers, Peel provided the other 2200 plants. The planting was part of a strategy to improve the water quality of this water way and restore the riparian vegetation. The students from Pinjarra Senior High School under the direction of teacher Janene Wells are making significant contributions to the community and the environment in their joint activities with Friends of Rivers, Peel


Clean-up Australia Day 2007 Community Joins Forces For Clean Up Day Local community organisations Friends of Rivers, Peel and South Yunderup Residents and Ratepayers Association came together on Sunday the 11th of March to conduct a clean up of the Murray and Serpentine Rivers and the South Yunderup area. They were joined by a group of scout cubs from the 1st Pinjarra Scout Group who made their way from Pinjarra to South Yunderup in boats removing rubbish from the river and foreshore along the way. The amount of rubbish removed from the Murray and Serpentine Rivers was again disappointing given the efforts of the community in previous years with more than 30 tyres of various sizes and a shopping trolley being removed from the rivers. Building waste from homes under construction in South Yunderup featured prominently in the land based volunteers clean up and action needs to be taken against builders and contractors by the Shire of Murray in enforcing their by laws reported clean up organiser Colin Elton. The clean up team ensured that South Yunderup Rd including the park and ride car park at Pinjarra Rd were litter free by mid day on Sunday but by early on Monday the 12 th litter was again being discarded from vehicles and by Tuesday litter was again present in the car park. Volunteers are the backbone of any community and the clean up team did what all good teams do at the end of the job, they adjourned for a well earned sausage sizzle and refreshment sponsored by ALCOA, The Shire of Murray and IGA Pinjarra.
The Clean-up team
Marcus McGregor, Gemma Urquhart,Jamie Iseppi	The grand total 2007

Baffle Boards at the Delta Islands

Baffle Boards Team
Delivering The Baffle Boards	Baffles getting ready to beinstalled

TEAM WORK GETS THE JOB DONE

What can you achieve when you have 33 students and a teacher from Pinjarra Senior High School, 4 Environmental Trainees from Fairbridge, 2 officers from the Department for the Environment and 3 volunteers from community group Friends of Rivers, Peel all working as a team?

The answer, a very successful planting of 1600 seedlings on Murray River foreshore in Pinjarra.

The students and community group Friends of Rivers, Peel had been awarded a LandCare/Mitre10 grant to fund the project and with the assistance of the Fairbridge Environmental Trainees have been preparing the site for the planting over recent months.

All involved worked in teams and were supported by the schools student council with the provision of morning tea and a sausage sizzle lunch to celebrate a big morning’s work.

Pictured:
Back row Tyler Graham, Daniel Goodin, Tegan Ambrosa, Shirley Joiner, Jamie Robson.
Front Row Sue Cox and John Tuckey Mitre 10 Pinjarra, Janene Wells Pinjarra Senior High School

Pictured:
Back row are students Shane Hart, Joel O’Driscoll, Steven David.
Front row are Fairbridge Trainees Alyssa Remedio, Kyla Italiano, Tristan Yeomans, Mitchell Eccles.

Local Business, Students and Community Group Working Together

Students and teachers from Pinjarra Senior High School have formed a partnership with the community Group Friends of Rivers, Peel and have been awarded a Mitre 10/Landcare grant to undertake a foreshore restoration project on the Murray River in Pinjarra.

This is the third year that the students from Pinjarra Senior High School have been involved in an environmental project on the Peel Rivers reports teacher Janene Wells.

This project involves water sampling, weed control, the removal of introduced plant species and replanting with plants native to the area, monitoring and evaluation along with river bank restoration.

Friends of Rivers, Peel will provide by way of the grant the materials and plants. Resources to spray for weed control, site preparation and grant administration.

John Tuckey from Tuckey’s Mitre 10 in Pinjarra is pleased that grants for river restoration projects in the Murray Shire are now being made more accessible for activities like the project that the students have undertaken.

Friends of Rivers,Peel spokesperson Colin Elton is hopeful that today’s students undertaking these projects will be the community drivers of the future and will continue to be involved in community environmental activities after they leave school.

The pic features Mr John Tuckey Mitre 10 Pinjarra congratulating Janene Wells from Pinjarra Senior High School on the receipt of the Landcare Mitre 10 grant.

In the pic left to right Anthony Pittman teacher, Toby Cope, Evian Elzinga, Dylan Tucker, Shakira Geersson, John Tuckey, Janene Wells, Kyle Bonser, Tegan Ambrosa, Jared Fischer-Rasmussen, Lana Glasson, Sue Cox, Colin Elton

Cameron and Chloe Spraying

These signs have been placed by the Shire of Murray at strategic points along the Murray River because their data from sampling shows how sick the river is and they wont invoke the health act to enforce the connection to sewerage.

Erosion caused by boat wash and tidal movement is a major cause of damage along the river.

Examples of the erosion caused by boat wash and tidal movement

An example of FoR Peel's rehabilitation work.

Before

Work in Progress

The end result

Winter Algal Bloom caused by nutrient leakage from local residential properties

Cappuccino Scum at Ravenswood Bridge

Clean up Australia Day 2004 a percentage of the rubbish collected

Clean up Australia Day 2005 - It took a barge to bring the stuff in but we had a great party afterward

Clean Up Australia Day 2006

	High temperatures may have kept some away; however 30 Volunteers registered and helped remove rubbish from the Murray River and foreshores as part of Friends of Rivers, Peel Clean up Australia Day activity. At the completion of the clean up the volunteers adjourned for a well earned BBQ and refreshments sponsored by ALCOA and the Shire of Murray. Friends of Rivers, Peel applauds their sponsors and volunteers for their support over the last three years.
The quantity of rubbish retrieved from the Murray River, particularly tyres was less than in previous years but you would hope that would be the case after the efforts of the previous clean up days
	The area at the end of Tonkin Drive near Cooper’s Mill was particularly bad; the rubbish included several chairs, washing machine, brick pallet banding and numerous beverage cartons and containers. Disturbingly the clean up team also found a large number of discarded syringes in this area which is a popular parking spot for crabbers.