As Australian school children head into a new term of COVID 19 schooling, Bush Blitz is launching a new on-line tool that allows them to play an important role in helping our environment without leaving the backyard.
The Bush Blitz species discovery program is already responsible for finding 1700 new species and is offering teachers, students and all Australians the chance to join a virtual biodiversity discovery tour while complying with social distancing.
The new Backyard Species Discovery project links children with experts from our nation's top research institutions, helping the students engage with nature in the safety of their own backyard and identifying the plants and animals that are found. All it takes is a device to take photos, access to the internet and the desire to discover.
It is estimated that 75 per cent of Australia's biodiversity is still unknown to science, so the chances of discovering something rare or new to science at home are surprisingly high.
During a Bush Blitz last month, eight-year-old Arabella Hanisch rediscovered an Australian orchid near her Blue Mountains' home in NSW which had not been seen for 145 years.
The 1700 species discovered in previous Bush Blitz surveys include spiders, plants, insects, snails, reptiles and even mammals.
Participants upload their images into iNaturalist, an online citizen science program, before it then goes into the Atlas of Living Australia where it's used for research and conservation management.
Educational resources including videos and lesson plans are also being released as part of the project to cover topics such as scientific photography, how to record frog calls, and attracting native bees to your garden.
Bush Blitz is a partnership between the Australian Government through Parks Australia and the Australian Biological Resources Study, BHP and Earthwatch Australia.
The Backyard Species Discovery virtual Bush Blitz is welcoming participants now.
Visit www.bushblitz.org.au to find out how you join the adventure and start discovering what's in your backyard and share your photos on social media with the hashtag #speciesdiscovery
Visuals: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wfmnz347v686eqe/AADsGF8ZfI31vVFG1eplLSh5a?dl=0
Background:
- During a Bush Blitz last month, eight-year-old Arabella Hanisch rediscovered an Australian orchid near her Blue Mountains' home in NSW which had not been seen for 145 years.
- The orchid was rediscovered on 22 March 2020 on the Newnes Plateau in the Blue Mountains (near the back of the Wollemi National Park).
- The orchid first found in the Bowral region of NSW and an illustration of the plant was done at the time.
- Botanists had searched that region for the orchid many times since then without luck.
- Arabella's mother Sabine Hanisch is an orchid enthusiast and has authored a book on Blue Mountain orchids.
