Welcome

Welcome to Hastings PACT

Image by Faye Bedford from ‘Platypus’ by Tom Grant.

Platypuses living in the waters of the Hastings River are now given greater protection under a partnership between Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, National Parks and Wildlife, NSW Fisheries and the Northern River Catchment Management Authority.

The Hastings Platypus Awareness and Conservation Team (PACT) aims to prevent the accidental drowning of platypuses (and other air-breathing wildlife) in yabby traps.

Through community awareness, Hastings PACT will educate the community to protect the local creeks and rivers that form the habitat of the platypus; raise awareness that platypuses and other air-breathing wildlife such as turtles and water birds get caught and drown in yabby traps; and reinforce that it is illegal to use yabby traps in the Hastings River and all freshwater creeks and estuaries in the Hastings.

By working with schools and the wider community, Hastings PACT intends to connect people with our creeks and rivers, reduce the problem of injury and death to platypuses and other air breathing wildlife, while at the same time encouraging appropriate habitat management and the protection of riparian zones.