CERTIFICATE II CONSERVATION ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT CAMP 2023

Camping in the forest in the middle of the year can be a wet event but our senior students in the CEM course managed to stay dry and enjoyed a successful field experience. 

Overnighting at the Hills Discovery Centre in Mundaring combined a traditional timber cottage stay with the quiet solitude of the bush, all within easy reach of the Kalamunda town centre. 

Students participated in a trapping activity involving setting 20 Sheffield (cage) traps and 2 Elliot traps overnight to capture and monitor nocturnal mammals for the Western Shield Program. This important and long-standing conservation program aims to provide real-time data on endangered species numbers in the fight against feral invaders like the cat and the impact of habitat loss.

We caught one chuditch, one brush tail possum and four mardo (yellow-footed antechinus), which is a good haul for what is often an empty cage outcome. The traps are designed not to harm the trapped, who are released after measurements are collected. 

We also participated in a night spotting activity where we saw a tawny frog mouth, orb weaver spider, two brush tail possums and a barking gecko, indicative of a healthy level of biodiversity and abundance. 

Students also had the chance to get up close and personal with some native fauna in an animal encounter session. They got to cuddle joeys and euros as well as meet Spike the echidna and Trevor the Woylie.