Great Southern Bioblitz 2022

Rainbow Lorikeet

Join the citizen science revolution – take part in the 2022 Great Southern Bioblitz this spring.

Have a curiosity about your local ecology? Want to contribute to the understanding of the biodiversity around your area? Or perhaps you’re looking for an excuse to head outside and enjoy the spring-time air? This could be for you!

28 - 31 October is your time to join the largest citizen science activity in the Southern Hemisphere – the Great Southern Bioblitz.

The Great Southern Bioblitz (GSB) provides an opportunity to showcase and record the unique organisms found in nations across the Southern Hemisphere. The GSB encourages the community to engage with nature in spring, take photos of flora and fauna they see and upload their photos onto the iNaturalist app.

In taking part in the GSB, participants are involved in highlighting the biodiversity across the Southern Hemisphere and can assist in furthering science technology through use of the iNaturalist app.

Once participants upload their sightings to iNaturalist, the app uses artificial intelligence to assist in identifying flora and fauna observed – and the more sightings uploaded, the more the app learns to identify! The data is then fed into the Atlas of Living Australia database, a platform managed by CSIRO, where the data can be accessed for many purposes including research and planning.

Blue tongue lizardBuilding on last year’s success, the Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary will be hosting an umbrella GSB project in partnership with the Darebin Creek Management Committee, Banyule City Council and City of Darebin in attempt to discover as much biodiversity throughout the Nangak Tamboree corridor and in Darebin and Banyule bushlands as possible.

Anyone living in or near Banyule or Darebin council areas are invited to join the Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary project to contribute to the growing understanding of our neighbouring ecology, with the top two contributors eligible for one of our various prizes.

Kookaburra


The best part is – anyone can get involved, even from your own backyard.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Download the iNaturalist app onto your phone (available via the App Store or Google Play) or access via the web.
  2. Register an account.
  3. Join the Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary GSB project (if you live in or near Banyule or Darebin councils and want a chance to win prizes) or find and join your nearest Oceania umbrella project.
  4. Get outdoors and start spotting from 28-31 October
  5. Upload your sightings via the app.

There will be numerous community events on at the Sanctuary including a Fish Survey, Breakfast with the Birds and Frog Census. Registrations for all events via Eventbrite are essential.

Find out more about the Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary – Great Southern Bioblitz 2022 or your nearest Oceania umbrella project.

Photo credit (Rainbow Lorikeet and Kookaburra) - Zebedee Muller