News & Updates

Last term, students from Dwellingup Primary School rolled up their sleeves and joined us for a hands-on nest box building workshop! Working together, they built a variety of nesting boxes, including a possum box, an owl box, a pardalote box and a bat box. The nest boxes will soon be installed around the school, where they'll provide valuable habitat for local wildlife. Even better, the students will be monitoring the boxes over time with support from the Peel Harvey Biosecurity Group, giving them the chance to see conservation in action and learn more about the animals that call their school grounds home. A big thank you to all the students for their enthusiasm and fantastic work. Thanks also go to the Shire of Murray for partnering with us to deliver the nest box workshop, and to Landcare SJ for loaning us their power drills. 

Students at Mundijong Primary School have taken action to support local wildlife after learning about the challenges facing Western Australia’s iconic black cockatoos. During Term 1 this year, 28 Year 6 students used Peel Harvey Biosecurity Group’s (PHBG) Black Cockatoo Resource Box to learn about the threats facing our iconic and endangered local black cockatoo species, including habitat loss and competition for nesting hollows. Inspired by what they learned, the students organised a school fundraiser to contribute to local conservation efforts. By the end of March they had raised just over $400, which the students chose to donate to the Black Cockatoo Project run by local not-for-profit, Landcare SJ. PHBG commended the students for their initiative and enthusiasm in turning classroom learning into real-world action. “This is a really great example of young people turning what they learn at school into meaningful action,” said Ms Fran Lengeling, PHBG’s Learning and Engagement Coordin...

Bookings are now open for Peel Harvey Biosecurity Group’s popular school holiday programs as part of the Pesky Pests initiative— an informative, fun and interactive experience for children as they get hands-on with the science of biosecurity.  Offered free of charge to community organisations in the City of Mandurah, Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Shire of Harvey, Shire of Waroona, and Shire of Murray, the programs run for sixty to ninety minutes and are tailored for a wide age range.  During school holiday programs, kids will explore the native animals and invasive pests found in the Peel-Harvey region, get involved in hands-on activities, and learn about the importance of pest management, ecology, and biosecurity in their local environment in an age-appropriate way.  The parents of past participants have given this locally developed program rave reviews, with one saying, “A brilliant, informative session. Engaging for a lot of age groups and very well explained to youn...

Pesky Pests is a free, science-based education program for Foundation to Year 6 students, focused on environmental sustainability and linked to the Australian Curriculum. Read on to find out what's been happening during Term 1 of 2025. Update on the 2025 program Our Pesky Pests science education program for primary schools is off to a strong start in its second year. 2025 began with engaging school holiday sessions at local libraries, followed by our popular incursions making their way into classrooms as the school year got underway. What's in a Pesky Pests incursion? In a 90-minute lesson on feral animals, students explore the impact of invasive species and how to investigate the signs to identify local pests. Or in the seeds lesson, they learn what makes a plant invasive, examine the fascinating variety of seed shapes, and take part in hands-on experiments to understand how seeds spread through the environment. State NRM Stewardship grant application Building on the success ...