Ms Helen Barclay1, Mr Joshua Griffiths1, Dr Sue Vern Song1, Mr Peter Ronalds2, Mr Philip Darton3
1EnviroDNA, Brunswick, Australia, 2Western Port Catchment Landcare Network, Koo Wee Rup, Australia, 3Neerim District Landcare Network, Neerim, Australia
Agricultural operations have a significant impact on waterway health in Australia. Conservation interventions typically involve funding for management strategies like fencing, nutrient management, weeding and revegetation, as well as a focus on water quality insights. Environmental DNA sampling provides an exciting collaborative opportunity to engage landholders as citizen scientists generating biodiversity data. Citizen science is a generational opportunity to inspire broader engagement and deeper connection to nature in waterways, thus encouraging better management.
Here we explore the results and approaches of several eDNA citizen science projects run with Landcare groups in Victoria that have successfully engaged private landholders in undertaking eDNA surveys. Farmers and other landholders investigated wildlife biodiversity in and around waterways such as rivers, creeks and farm dams. In undertaking eDNA sampling these citizen scientists were empowered to access and understand a new molecular wildlife survey tool. For a National Landcare Funded project, surveys in West Gippsland region resulted in over 60 wildlife species being detected from taxonomic groups like fish, frogs, birds, reptiles, and crustaceans, including some threatened or cryptic species that were unknown to participants. This project attracted high levels of community participation and feedback highlighted that new wildlife and biodiversity knowledge was acquired by all respondents with many showing intentions for further biodiversity conservation actions.
eDNA sampling provides a unique way to engage and inspire landholders within agricultural communities to undertake biodiversity conservation actions on their own farms and within surrounding regions.
Biography:
biography to come