The “Who’s living on my land?” Project“Who’s living on my land?” is a National Parks Association of NSW citizen science project designed to help regional private landholders discover what species are on their property. NPA was funded by South East Local Land Services to run 20 “Who’s living on my land?” workshops across their region to train 300 private landholders in camera trapping, collaborating local environmental projects and landcare groups.

Over three years (2015-18) we delivered 21 workshops to 438 people and identified 100 species: including native mammals, birds and reptiles, and introduced species. Four were threatened species: Spotted-tail Quoll, Koala, Long-nosed Potoroo and Speckled Warbler. We analysed more than 300,000 photos and videos and uploaded 1,270 unique records to the NSW BioNET Atlas. Following participating in the project, a number of landholders initiated their own conservation actions – joining Land for Wildlife, Feral Fighters or continuing monitoring by buying their own camera.

Regional “Who’s living on my land?” SurveysWe taught landholders how to set up a camera trap to survey their land for wildlife using motion sensor infrared cameras; then loaned them the camera for a two-week survey on their property. At the end of the

survey, landholders posted the camera and we identified all the animals that passed by the camera trap.

We used the results of the citizen science wildlife survey to encourage landholders to participate in conservation initiatives like pest control and habitat restoration to support native wildlife; get them in contact with Local Land Services and other environmental groups; and, uploaded valuable species data from private land onto public databases.Why private landholders?Australia has the world’s worst mammal extinction rate mainly due to invasive species and habitat destruction. It is crucial for private landholders to participate in efforts to reverse this, as 82% of the Australian landmass is outside the National Reserve System.

The ‘Who’s living on my land?” project tapped into the inherent pride landholders have in their property. Photographs from the survey help landholders discover and connect to native species on their property and in their region. Many native species are often nocturnal, rare and cryptic – so cameras offer a rare opportunity to interact with these animals. With this connection, landholders are more likely to protect the resources that native species depend on and participation in strategic pest management.

“I felt like dancing especially when I saw the photographs of what else

was snapped nearby. But that bloody feral cat has to go.”

– Patricka Ruby, Penrose workshop.

“I've bought one of your old cameras to keep looking for

quolls, will be in touch if anything special comes up.”

– Barry Virtue, Berry workshop

“We were glad to be made aware of two pest species on our

property and have now commenced pest control.It was great to have our

suspicions confirmed, (both good and bad).”

– Phil Maughan, Cobargo workshop.

Species records on private landPrivate land can act as crucial stepping stones between core habitat in the National Reserve System and, in some cases, have high quality examples of remnant or regenerating vegetation. Gaps in species record databases often exist on private land because of lack of access and privacy concerns. ‘Who’s living on my land?’ helped to fill in these gaps. We uploaded 1,270 unique records to the NSW BioNET Atlas, with all but one landholder agreeing to share their records.

We also introduced landholders to the Atlas of Living Australia (www.ala.org.au) species record database so they could continue to upload their species sightings following the completion of the project.

What we have achievedThe ‘Who’s living on my land?’ project exceeded all its project measures - see table 1.

WorkshopsOver the life of the project, we ran 21 workshops across the South East Local Land Services Region (Figure 1) in collaboration with Great Eastern Ranges facilitators and local conservation projects:

Adaminaby (2018) Alpine (2018) Berrima (2017) Berry (2016, 2016, 2018) Braidwood (2017) Bredbo (2016) Canyonleigh (2016) Cobargo (2017) Craigie (2015) High Range (2015) Kangaroo Valley (2016) Pambula (2016) Penrose (2016) Robertson (2017, 2017, 2018) Ulladulla (2016, 2018) Yass (2017)

Participating landholdersWe trained 438 landholders to use infrared cameras to survey their land for wildlife.

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Table 1. Target and actual project measure for the ‘Who’s living on my land?’ workshops funded by the South East LLS CILF grants.

Outcome Target ActualNumber of people participating in activities to care for their environment

300 438

Number of groups participating in activities to care for their environment

10 17

Number of training workshops 20 21Properties signing up to land for wildlife 10 48

A minimum 3750ha of improved land management practice will be achieved

3,750 ha 11,670 ha

FIGURE 1. 210 participating properties in the 21 Who’s living on my land? workshops funded by South East LLS. Similar pins indicate landholders attending the same workshop; white outline is SELLS border.

Landholders were recruited to the project through a variety of avenues: Facebook ads, posters, local environmental networks, media releases and word of mouth.

Participating landholders owned properties with a variety of primary land uses – chiefly conservation (34%), farming (27%) and recreation (20%) (Figure 2). The high proportion of farming properties demonstrates that this project can be attractive to land managers who typically come from beyond the conservation movement.

The majority of our landholders were not part of any conservation programs prior to participating in the project (Figure 3). Land for Wildlife was the most common conservation program that landholders participated in prior to their workshop.

Following our workshops, we signed up 48 additional properties to the Land for Wildlife network. Land for Wildlife is a voluntary property registration scheme for landholders who wish to manage areas of wildlife habitat on their property and encourages and assists landholders to include nature conservation along with other land management objectives.

Who IS living on my land?We analysed over 300,000 images and videos and found exactly 100 species – including 18 native mammals, 63 native birds, 4 reptiles and 14 introduced species (Full species list - Appendix 1).

Of these 100 species, 4 were threatened species: Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus; Figure 4), Spotted-tail Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), Long-nosed Potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) and Speckled Warbler (Chthonicola sagittata).

Three species were seen in the results for all 21 workshops: Swamp Wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), Wombats (Vombatus ursinus) and European Foxes (Vulpes vulpes).

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Figure 4. Koala from Canyonleigh ‘Who’s living on my land?’ survey.

34%

27%

20%

14%

4%1%

ConservationFarmingRecreationResidenceMulti-useOther

Figure 2. Proportion of primary land use of participating properties. Data on land use available from 135 of 210 properties.

64%

22%

7%4%2%1%

NoLand for WildlifeConservation AgreementYesLandcareHabitat for Wildlife

Figure 3. Proportion of properties participating in conservation programs. Data available from 84 of 210 properties.

Delivery PartnersOne of the great strengths of ‘Who’s living on my land?’ is the relationships we have built with local conservation partners. All ‘Who’s living on my land?’ workshops were delivered collaboratively – allowing landholders to develop connections with local environmental projects and organisations. We tweaked the ‘Who’s living on my land?’ survey to complement local projects or search for species of interest, like Long-nosed Potoroos and Spotted-tail Quolls.

Project delivery partners included:

South East Local Land Services Landcare groups:

o Berryo Upper Shoalhaveno Milton Ulladullao Corrowong/Wallendibby o Bredbo

Land for Wildlife (Figure 5) Great Eastern Ranges Kosciuszko2Coast Office of Environment and

Heritage Wingecarribee Shire Council Atlas of Life on the Budawang

Coast Conservation Volunteers Australia Panboola Wetlands Heritage

Project

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Figure 5. Norm Craig signing up for Land for Wildlife after a collaborative workshop in Craigie

What’s next for ‘Who’s living on my land?’‘Who’s living on my land?’ has been one of our most successful citizen science projects. The National Parks Association of NSW is seeking funding to continue this valuable citizen science project. We are currently working on an ad hoc basis by commission from various community groups and Local Land Services around the state.

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AppendixAppendix 1. Species list for 21 ‘Who’s living on my land?’ workshops. Purple fill indicates presence; * indicates threatened species.

Species High

Ran

ge 2

015

Crai

gie

2015

Berr

y 20

16

Pam

bula

210

6

Cany

onle

igh

2016

Berr

y 20

16-A

ugus

t

Bred

bo 2

016

Kang

aroo

Val

ley

2016

Milt

on 2

016

Penr

ose

2016

Berr

ima

2017

Robe

rtso

n Ju

ne 2

017

Yass

201

7

Adam

inab

y 20

18

Alpi

ne 2

018

Berr

y 20

18

Brai

dwoo

d 20

17

Coba

rgo

2017

Robe

rtso

n 20

18

Robe

rtso

n 20

17

Ulla

dulla

201

8

NATIVE MAMMALS*Koala*Long-nosed Potoroo*Spotted-tail QuollBrown AntechinusBush RatCommon Brushtail possumCommon Ringtail PossumDingoDusky AntechinusEastern Grey KangarooEchidnaLong-nosed BandicootMountain Brushtail PossumRed necked wallabySwamp RatSwamp WallabyWallarooWombat

NATIVE BIRDS*Speckled WarblerAustralian MagpieAustralian RavenAustralian White IbisAustralian Wood DuckBassian ThrushBlacktailed Native HenBrown Cuckoo DoveBrown GoshawkBrown ThornbillChestnut TealCommon BronzewingCrested PigeonCrimson RosellaDusky WoodswallowEastern RosellaEastern SpinebillEastern WhipbirdEastern Yellow RobinEmuFlame RobinGalahGreen CatbirdGrey ButcherbirdGrey CurrawongGrey FantailGrey GoshawkGrey ShrikethrushKing ParrotLaughing KookaburraLewin's Honey EaterMagpie-larkMasked LapwingNoisy MinerPacific black duckPied CurrawongPurple SwamphenRainbow LorikeetRed WattlebirdRed-browed FinchSatin Bowerbird

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Species High

Ran

ge 2

015

Crai

gie

2015

Berr

y 20

16

Pam

bula

210

6

Cany

onle

igh

2016

Berr

y 20

16-A

ugus

t

Bred

bo 2

016

Kang

aroo

Val

ley

2016

Milt

on 2

016

Penr

ose

2016

Berr

ima

2017

Robe

rtso

n Ju

ne 2

017

Yass

201

7

Adam

inab

y 20

18

Alpi

ne 2

018

Berr

y 20

18

Brai

dwoo

d 20

17

Coba

rgo

2017

Robe

rtso

n 20

18

Robe

rtso

n 20

17

Ulla

dulla

201

8

SilvereyeSouthern WhitefaceSpotted DoveSpotted Quail-thrushSuperb FairywrenSuperb LyrebirdVariegated FairywrenWedgetail EagleWelcome SwallowWhite-browed ScrubwrenWhite-eared HoneyeaterWhite-faced HeronWhite-headed PigeonWhite-naped HoneyeaterWhite-necked HeronWhite-throated TreecreeperWhite-winged ChoughWillie WagtailWonga PigeonYellow-faced HoneyeaterYellow-tailed Black CockatooYellow-throated Scrubwren

NATIVE REPTILESBlotched Blue-tongue LizardEastern Water DragonHighland CopperLace MonitorRed-belly Black Snake

INTRODUCED SPECIESBlack BirdBlack RatCatCommon MynaFallow DeerFoxGoatHareHouse MousePigRabbitRed DeerRusa DeerSambar Deer

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