28 – What makes a successful citizen science program?^365improving its status but there is no evidence this is happening, can the program be
considered a success? If the status of the focal species is not improving, are there
intrinsic problems with the citizen science program, or are the threatening
processes simply beyond the scope of community groups to overcome?
BirdLife Australia continues to grapple with the strategic value of threatened
species projects that fail to record improved outcomes for the focal species. The
conservation outcome for projects such as the Beach-nesting Birds project are
clear: management interventions to reduce disturbance to hooded plover nests in
highly disturbed areas results in a 400% increase in the success rates of breeding
attempts compared with unmanaged controls (Birdlife, unpublished data). Other
projects, such as the monitoring of orange-bellied parrots Neophema chrysogaster,
confirm the ongoing decline of the species; although data collected has contributed
to legislative or management decisions and activities, it is difficult to quantify the
impact of the monitoring activity on the conservation status of the species.
Lessons learned
Several key learnings have become apparent in the delivery of citizen science
projects by BirdLife Australia:
● (^) From the outset, be clear about the project aims and be clear about defining a
program as a citizen science project. This helps to formulate appropriate
questions and methodologies. Like any research or monitoring project, clarity
of purpose is vital, but possibly more so when using non-experts to collect data.
● (^) To ensure data quality, project methodology needs to be well thought out and
tested before participant engagement. Methodological change during the
project delivery will lead to confusion and resentment in participants,
eventually leading to drop out rates that make the project untenable.
● (^) Have tangible and realistic milestones and expectations, which are reported on
so that volunteers can see that their contributions are valuable and valued.
Reporting should include negative news as well as positive; communicating the
negatives in an appropriate way can be a powerful way to mobilise a large
group of people to action.
● (^) Be realistic about project limitations. Treating participants with honesty will
result in better outcomes. Attention grabbing headlines may gain participants
initially, but retaining them can be difficult if the project doesn’t follow
through on these. Similarly, being open about a project’s progress is important.
● (^) Design the project to accommodate a range of skill and commitment levels.
Participants will want to commit to varying amounts of time and energy to a
project. Some will become heavily involved with the project and have a strong
desire to learn new skills, while others will like to participate periodically and