Wildlife Australia - Spring 2017

First words

I

n 2014, we published an article
on Bowerbird – a website for
citizen science in Australia. That
was back when ‘crowd-sourcing’
data was first becoming popular,
before a climate change sceptic
was elected president of the USA,
before the white-anting of the
Australian Climate Council left it
without a single sitting climate
scientist, and before a potentially catastrophic polluter, in the form
of a contentious coal mine, was granted unlimited access to the
groundwater of the Great Artesian Basin for six decades in Qld.
Such happenings are making people realise that, when faced with
competing economic or cultural concerns, governments routinely
give short shrift to the environment, and are causing a seismic
shift in public awareness of scientific enquiry worldwide. In
March 2017, the first ‘March for Science’ occurred in Washington
DC, soon followed by 600 global marches on Earth Day in April

2017. More than 1.07 million protesters attended the events.
      Images of the marchers, most waving placards that bore slogans
      as witty as they were accusatory, were uploaded to social media
      sites worldwide. Science had hit the streets – and our screens.
      It is easy to be despondent sometimes about how little is
      being done to protect biodiversity here and abroad, but in this
      issue we wanted to highlight that individuals don’t have to be
      passive players in a greater game of environmental degradation.
      Now, more than ever before, we can make a difference. That is
      why this issue is themed ‘Citizen science’.

As Geoff Baker explains on p. 11, citizen science isn’t new –
Aussie kids helped soil scientists study earthworm abundance
back in the 1990s and biodiversity monitoring has benefited
from the help of volunteers for decades. WAM’s publisher, WPSQ,
already operates nine citizen science projects, including the
Quoll Seekers Network, Queensland Glider Network, Moreton
Bay Seagrass Monitoring (p. 25) and Mangrove Watch (p. 29).

These programs are aided by technological advances that make

collecting, identifying and analysing data ever more efficient.

Nature apps are helping just about anyone identify just about

anything, from weeds to rainforest plants to snakes (p. 34). Of

course, most can instantly identify our cover animal, the white

shark, largely because of its poor press. However, social media

and the popularity of cage-dive tourism are having a positive

effect on attitudes around shark conservation, too (p. 6). Those

who have experienced the might of this incredible species

up-close are more likely to campaign for white sharks’ protection.

A recent political push to remove its protected status makes

their voices more important than ever.

Many apps and citizen science projects also cater to kids,

instilling a love of nature that gets them engaged, if not outdoors

• as a successful ‘nature play’ program on p. 38 is doing. What’s
  more, volunteer projects have a way of growing into something
  more. The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program in Papua New
  Guinea (see p. 2) is now training volunteer teachers to educate
  Junior Rangers with the aim of protecting the Endangered
  Matschie’s tree kangaroo. In doing so, it is raising educational and
  living standards in some of PNG’s most impoverished provinces.
  Closer to home, in Australia’s mountainous Kosciuszko NP, Martin
  Schulz had only to drive a short way to text a smartphone image
  to an expert, confirming the extended range of the elusive smoky
  mouse (p. 19). Now, even the most mountainous areas have wifi!
  So get involved. Upload wildlife holiday snaps to sites that
  help monitor species. Name a few clouds, or categorise some
  galaxies. You never know, your data might help unravel some of
  the mysteries of our incredible universe.

WILDLIFE AUSTRALIA – INSPIRING STRONGER TIES TO NATURE TO EMPOWER CONSERVATION

EDITOR

Karin Cox

[email protected]

DESIGNER

Paul Hodge

http://www.hodgie.net.au

PUBLISHER

Wildlife Preservation Society

of Queensland

PRINTER

Platypus Graphics

PHOTO SOURCING

Jenny Thynne

Images credited [CC] are creative

commons licensed from Flickr or

https://commons.wikimedia.org

PROOF READING

Jenny Curnow

Glen Fergus

Saren Starbridge

MAGAZINE COMMITTEE

Jo Towsey (chair)

Janelle Devery

Rebecca Dannock

Steve Homewood

Sue Ogilvie

The Wildlife Preservation

Society of Queensland

has for 54 years published

Wildlife Australia, a national

magazine, to increase

ecological understanding and

environmental awareness.

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ISSN 0043-

Protecting wildlife, influencing

choices, engaging communities

Cover image

WHITE SHARK

(CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS)

BY SIMON PHELPS

S

imon is a pilot

for the Royal

Flying Doctor Service

and is a passionate

nature photographer

who was privileged

to cage-dive at the

Neptune Islands,

SA, with Calypso

Star Charters. He captured this shot right as a shoal of fish

separated when a white shark approached. Simon’s career

has enabled him to live and work around Australia, from

Innamincka to the Torres Straits to Derby, and now Port

Hedland, WA. Each place kindled his passion for exploring

Australia through the lens and from the air. To see more,

visit http://www.simonphelpsphotography.com.

Would you like to share a great wildlife image with us? Post

it to http://www.facebook.com/wildlifeaustraliamagazineWAM

Inset cover, left to right: mountain pygmy-possum by Alexis

Horn; Maremmas by Zoos Victoria; dragonfly by Janelle Ward.

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Editor

Photo: John Englart (Takver/Flickr)