Copyright © Bouvard Coast Care Group Inc -
Registered Charity
Bouvard Coast
Care Group
Working for the future to protect our
coastal dune system, fauna and wildlife
Our Groups
We have a number of special interest groups who look
after specific areas of Coast Care, these include our
Turtle Group who tend for the needs of turtles washed
up on the coast during bad weather and our Possum
Group who manage the possum bridges and wildlife
corridors.
If you’d like to take part in one of these groups, email the
group leader using the details on their page, you’ll find a
summary of our special interest groups below.
Possum Group
Our Possum Group look after the Western Ring-tail
Possums and the Gumnut Possum Bridge.
The western ringtail possum (Ngwayir) is an arboreal
leaf-eating herbivorous marsupial endemic to south-
western Australia. Since colonial settlement it has
undergone a substantial range contraction, with
declines in abundance and habitat continuing.
It is listed as threatened fauna, and ranked in Western
Australia as Endangered under international (IUCN)
criteria. It is also listed nationally as Vulnerable under
the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Bouvard Coastcare Group in partnership with the City
of Mandurah and Friends of Warrangup Springs
successfully applied for funding to the Peel-Harvey
Catchment Council for “Restoring Ecological Linkages
for the Ngwayir (Western Ringtail Possum)” In addition,
we have also carried out planting along a number of
wildlife corridors in Bouvard to provide food & habitat
for the Western Ring-tailed Possum.
The Possum Group carry on this work, managing,
maintaining and monitoring possum numbers in the
area. You can join this group by visiting their group
page.
Turtle Group
Our Turtle Group look after sea turtles.
Six of the world’s seven species of turtles are found in
WA waters:
•
green
•
hawksbill
•
loggerhead
•
flatback
•
leatherback
•
olive ridley.
All marine turtles in Australian waters are protected
species at both State and Commonwealth levels.
Marine turtles have existed in the world's oceans for
more than 100 million years.
These ancient mariners have cultural, spiritual and
economic importance to coastal Indigenous
Australians.
Turtles feature in many stories, ceremonies,
traditions and contemporary activities of Indigenous
people, and are often a food source in remote coastal
communities.
Marine turtles generally live for a long time and are
slow to reach sexual maturity—it can take between 20
and 50 years for a turtle to begin to breed. The only
time they leave the ocean is when the adult females lay
their eggs on beaches, and occasionally to bask during
the nesting season. ( Read more on the DBCA Website )
The aim of our Turtle Group is to encourage members
and their families to monitor andprotect sea turtles
especially young turtles that have been washed up on
our coastline during storms. Find out how you can help
on our Turtle Group page.
Peacock Spider Group
Maratus flavus
(
flavus meaning yellow in Latin) is the name given to the
Peacock Spider that is described in Peckhamia 160.1 by
J C Otto and D E Hill and is unique to this area of the
South-west of Western Australia known as Tims
Thicket. It is important to preserve this area as it may
be the only place in the world that this species exists.
Males are only about 4mm and females about 5mm.
They are found in leaf litter and on small green plants
not very tall in height. They feed on small live insects
and catch them by jumping on them. They do not build
webs like other spiders.
This BCCG Special Interest Group is lead by Carole
Anderson with the aim of raising awareness & habitat
preservation for this special local species.