About us
Why do we need to monitor?
Monitoring means keeping track of changes on Country. It can use Traditional Ecological Knowledge supported by modern scientific methods. By writing down what you see, taking measurements, recording sounds, collecting samples or taking photos, you can collect information on the things we care about, like native plants, native animals, water or cultural sites, and the things we worry about, like weeds, invasive/feral animals or wrong-way fire.
When you monitor over time, the information can tell important stories about Country. It can show you if Country is healthy – like finding more Bilbies or seeing more healthy plants on Country. It can also warn you when something is wrong – like finding weeds in more places or water becoming dirty. Monitoring can also tell you if management of Country is working – like whether right-way burning is bringing back spinifex or if trapping feral cats is helping native mammals survive. You can also learn new things about Country – like finding a plant species you haven’t seen before or tracking how vegetation is responding to climate change. This information helps add to your knowledge of Country and making decisions about caring for Country, and can also be useful for others like scientific researchers, conservation organisations or government.
About Us
Developing an Indigenous environmental monitoring platform
Project start date: 01/01/2023
Project end date: 30/12/2026
NESP funding: $400,000 (GST-exclusive)
Indigenous rangers across Australia protect, manage and monitor vast areas of land and sea Country. Unfortunately, there is limited guidance to inform rangers on what tools to use for monitoring, how to optimise their monitoring methods and how to manage their monitoring data while ensuring sovereignty of their Indigenous knowledge. This project is developing a digital platform to guide and support Indigenous practitioners on the protocols and technologies they can employ to best carry out and evaluate their on-Country monitoring and management programs.
This project was primarily conceived in consultation with Indigenous practitioners to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their on-Country management activities to protect natural and cultural values and mitigate threats. The project is addressing deficiencies in the capture, curation, storage and analysis of information and the use of this information to report on the environmental, economic, social and cultural outcomes of on-Country activities. These issues are pivotal to ensuring ongoing support for and, ultimately, growth of Indigenous land, water and sea management programs.
Key research areas
This platform will enable ranger groups and other Indigenous practitioners to produce and deliver outputs that affirm the exceptional quality and quantity of their on-ground activities. This will support the Australian Government’s objectives to continue to support and ultimately grow Indigenous ranger and associated Landcare programs. This project is doing that by:
- developing an Indigenous-tested toolbox of monitoring protocols and technologies, accompanied by guidance from Indigenous practitioners on how, why, when and where to deploy the tools
- building and honouring established Indigenous monitoring projects by making them available to new Indigenous practitioners
- validating the methodologies and technologies used by and recommended to Indigenous practitioners to ensure they are fit for purpose and culturally appropriate
- supporting the development of methods for the enduring storage, management and analysis of monitoring data where Indigenous practitioners maintain sovereignty over their data and how it is used, in keeping with the principles of FPIC (free, prior and informed consent), CARE (collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility and ethics) and FAIR findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability).