Environmental Scientist Alice McGrath (from Canberra), Senior Ecologist Joel Stibbard (Newcastle), Contract Ecologist James Lidsey (a local now living in Melbourne) and representatives from NatureMapr introduced the program, which will provide landowners with information to support land management decisions. It will also identify the amazing (and mostly unseen) biodiversity on their property, while expanding and improving the existing biodiversity via NatureMapr – a virtual platform built to Australian government standards to provide robust sensitive data-handling controls, with all information hosted in Australia on government certified infrastructure.
Attendees were issued with Reconyx cameras and a Song Meter Mini Bat2 sound recorder to capture visual and audio recordings over the next three months. Using the NatureMapr app and website, owners are encouraged to upload any images or sound recordings captured by camera / phone at the same time, with uploads verified by both wildlife moderators and scientists. This data, plus the accumulation of images and sound recordings at the conclusion of the pilot, will be added to the BCT Land Libraries for future reference and use by appropriate organisations and departments.
Cameras and recording devices will be collected at a follow up workshop in early December, with data obtained during the project being shared with participants once collated and scientifically assessed.
Nick Deacock
