Building community capacity to undertake threatened species research and monitoring: an example from northern South Australia
Research and monitoring for threatened species in Central Australia is made difficult by the large distances involved, low population density and the few wildlife research professionals working in these areas. As a result, there has been an increasing interest in developing methods for threatened species research and monitoring that can be undertaken by community members within these areas. The South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resource Management Board is supporting one such program which places a strong emphasis on improving the capacity of community members to participate in threatened species research and monitoring projects. To date, this program has led to the development of targeted projects for a number of threatened species, including a volunteer based monitoring program for the Southern Marsupial Mole and other sand dwelling mammals in the Simpson Desert.
The Friends of Simpson Desert Parks Group undertakes an annual working bee in Witjira National Park, Simpson Desert Regional Reserve and Simpson Desert Conservation Park in northern South Australia. During their 2006 working bee, 19 sites were monitored for the presence of Marsupial Moles by digging trenches to search for underground signs of Marsupial Mole activity. These surveys provided the first records of Marsupial Moles in the south-western Simpson Desert, an area highlighted for research in the National Recovery Plan for this species. Signs of marsupial mole activity were found at 47% of the 19 sites surveyed, with the majority of sign recorded in trenches located on dune crests. These results are consistent with data collected by scientists elsewhere in the Simpson Desert and in the Northern Territory (Benshemesh,2004;2005). Similar monitoring activities are planned for future working bees in the Simpson Desert.
This project provides an excellent example of volunteer organisations contributing valuable information to threatened species recovery programs in areas where government and conservation agency resources are limited.