September 7 was Threatened Species Day. It commemorated the death of the last remaining Tasmanian Tiger in captivity in 1936 – 80 years ago. This made me stop and think about what more we can do as individuals to help protect the many more endangered species and their habitats, and become more connected to and responsible for sensitive local environments.
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| Image: National Film and Sound Archive |
Because the loss of species concerns them, my children are already supporting organisations that help endangered species, but we have now also decided to get more involved in citizen science – becoming engaged in documenting and recording our wildlife sightings, learning more about our local species, habitats and ecological systems. By uploading the information we find in our local area to citizen science sites we are adding to the body of knowledge about biodiversity and the state of our natural environment.We could possibly even discover a new species!
Here are a couple of sites you might like to explore too:
ATLAS OF LIVING AUSTRALIA
The Atlas of Living Australia is a collaborative, national project that collects information about biodiversity from sources around the country and makes it accessible online.
ABC WILDLIFE SPOTTER Helping to save threatened species and preserve Australia’s iconic wildlife by looking for animals in wilderness photos taken by automated cameras around Australia. Anyone can join this and you can do it online. https://wildlifespotter.net.au/
BOWERBIRD
Bowerbird is an an online place to share Australia’s biodiversity – to map what you see in your place, to find out information, get expert advice on species you find, and perhaps even discover a new one. Citizen Science in action!! Organised by Victoria Museum http://www.bowerbird.org.au/
THE BIODIVERSITY GROUP:
The Biodiversity Group aims to bring together an international network of citizens, scientists, and photographers to gather and share data and images of overlooked species. http://biodiversitygroup.org/citizen-science/
We’ve also just planted a lot more local native species in our backyard and helped to do a community tree-planting to extend a riparian habitat area. It may just be a small bit, but it all helps, and I certainly think involving the children in these types of community research, environment care and positive action is a great foundation for the next generation of earthcarers.
I’ll keep coming back to this topic of raising earthcarers. With little children of my own, and because I offer Nature Kids and Earth School programs, it is something that I think about every day.
OTHER SITES?
Do you know of other citizen science sites that help to support endangered species and habitat restoration/protection in your area? Please could you post links here…
The story of the last remaining Tasmanian tiger always saddens me. When we were in Hobart and went to the museum, they had an exhibition about this amazing creature. I told my boy what an amazing marsupial (Yes, marsupial) this animal was and that it is gone from our Earth, forever. I feel we are all the poorer when we lose species.
We love to see the wild creatures who visit our garden. Snakes and lizards and bees and spiders and frogs and birds. Last year, we joined in with the Aussie Backyard Bird Count. This is the web address http://www.aussiebirdcount.org.au for those who want to find out more.
apparently the rumours are that there have been the odd sightings of Tasmanian Tigers. if only this was true. it is a shame that we are so careless to our native wildlife.
i am planting native trees too, mostly fruit & flower trees so that the birds will leave my trees alone eventually
great post
thanx for sharing