Citizen Science
Surveying forests threatened by inappropriate management
State government agencies regularly breach environmental laws by logging or burning threatened species habitat and protected forest types. We take action in the face of inadequate government regulation through our Citizen Science and forest monitoring program.
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Citizen science is where ordinary people collect data on threatened species and ecological values that are protected by Victorian law but threatened by inappropriate 'management' like logging or burning. We then report our results to the Victorian government, which has to apply the protections stated by the regulations when the results have been verified.
Our program has created reserves and stopped several unlawful logging operations and has managed to protect thousands of hectares of native forests. through our citizen science program. In the 2015, our citizen science program was a finalist in the United Nations World Environment Day Awards.
Call playback is a survey technique used to elicit an aural response from nocturnal animals, commonly forest owls and yellow bellied-gliders.
High-powered torches or spotlights are used to locate nocturnal arboreal (tree-dwelling) wildlife in the canopy of the forest. Spotlighting involves shining lights into the canopy searching for animals. Animals are usually first encountered by ‘eye shine’, when the light from the surveyors' spotlight is reflected off the eyes of the animal.
One of the most effective methods of fauna surveying is the use of remote fauna cameras, also known as “camera traps”. They are an effective way to collect data over an extended period of time with minimal labour and minimal stress to animals. Remote, motion sensing cameras are widely used for detecting the presence of a range of fauna species. These are robust, easy to use, and can produce high-quality images.
Reports are submitted to the Victorian government to inform the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action of legally protected forest values such as threatened species and rainforest within areas threatened by industrial harm. Reports also document breaches of the Code of Practices for Timber production. We also submit our records to the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA)
We've created an instructional fauna survey manual detailing survey techniques for Gliders, Owls and terrestrial mammals. The manual has everything you need to know about spotlighting, remote fauna cameras and call play backs for owls.
