Gardening for Wildlife

Do you want to help conserve native wildlife right in your backyard? Then this is the citizen science project for you!

About the Project

The University of Western Australia and Perth NRM have partnered to deliver the ‘Turning Gardeners into Conservationists’ project supported by the Australian Government’s Inspiring Australia Science Engagement Programme. This three-year project will engage with citizens to research the potential benefits of wildlife friendly gardening for native wildlife and human wellbeing. The project will provide valuable new knowledge in urban ecology, build community capacity to contribute to conservation, and create a long-term wildlife monitoring database in gardens.

There are two key research aspects to this project that you can choose to be involved in:

1. Ecological research: This aims to investigate whether wildlife friendly gardening has biodiversity benefits.
2. Sociological research: This aims to investigate whether wildlife friendly gardening influences human wellbeing, including physical health, mental health and happiness.

Become a Citizen Scientist!

We aim to connect residents with the biodiversity in their gardens, raise awareness about our urban wildlife, and inspire an appreciation for nature and conservation within both city and natural landscapes. We are looking for as many participants as possible. We hope to work with citizens all over southwestern Australia!

What’s Involved?

Ecological Research
By taking part you will be trained in wildlife survey techniques to collect data on the wildlife found in your gardens and how they use wildlife friendly structures (e.g. bird baths, possum boxes, ponds etc.). This can occur over a relative short period of time (3 to 6 months) or you can monitor for the life of the project (approximately 18 months) – the choice is yours! All surveys will occur sometime between June 2022 and January 2024. A subset of residents will also have the opportunity to implement new wildlife friendly features in their gardens to see if this improves the biodiversity found on their property.

What kind of wildlife monitoring are we talking about?

We are interested in all types of wildlife. You can choose how many of these surveys you would like to do and the types of wildlife you are interested in. Residents must commit to at least one survey type to be involved in the project, and the more data we can collect – the better! You can choose one or more from the following:

Survey Method	Target Wildlife	Description
Spotlight Surveys	Possums and/or Geckos	Once per week, residents undertake a spotlight search of their garden primarily for possums and geckos. This will involve residents walking around their garden and scanning the trees, fences and roofs with a head torch sometime between last light and midnight. The spotlight search will take approximately 5 – 15 minutes per survey event.
Acoustic surveys	Frogs and/or bats	Once per week, residents undertake a 20 minute acoustic survey using an app on their phone that records the calls of bats and frogs. This will involve standing stationary and quietly in their garden for a 20 minute period with the recording technology to record bat and frog presence in their gardens. These surveys can occur anytime between last light and midnight.
Timed bird count	Birds	Once per week, residents undertake a 20 minute bird count where they record all birds that they see during this time. Residents will sit or stand stationary at the same spot in their garden on every survey event. These surveys can occur any time between dawn and dusk.
Camera trapping	All ground-dwelling animals	Residents deploy one remote motion sensing camera for 10 nights every month. This involves setting up the camera, switching it on and leaving it at one location in the garden (it will take about 5-10 minutes to set up). When animals run in front of the motion sensor the camera will automatically photograph the animal. Residents can choose whether they want to look at the camera images themselves or would prefer researchers to do the animal identifications.
Timed area search	Reptiles	Once per week, residents undertake a 20 minute search of their garden and record the reptiles that they see (e.g. bobtails, lizards, skinks). Residents will slowly walk around their garden scanning the ground, rocks and other ground-based structures for 20 minutes and record each reptile they observe during this period. These surveys can occur anytime between dawn and dusk.
Pan trapping	Flying insects	Residents place one hanging pan trap (a small yellow plastic plate with soapy water in it) in their garden with a 1x1m fine-mesh net set adjacent and vertical to the pan trap for 5 nights each month. Insects fly into the net and fall into the pan trap which researches can then use to identify the insects in the garden. Residents need to replace the soapy water in the pan trap twice during the five day sampling period (once on day 2 and once on day 5). Water with insects in it are placed in a jar ready for researchers to examine.
Inspecting wildlife friendly structures	All wildlife	If residents decide to monitor their new or already existing wildlife friendly structures then residents would need to inspect each feature once per week and record which species are using it.

What wildlife friendly structures are we talking about?

If you want to install wildlife friendly features in your garden as part of the project you can choose one or more from the following:

Feature	Example
Installing a bird nest box This provides birds a place to nest or rest on your property.
Installing a bat box This provides bats a place to roost on your property.
Installing a possum box This provides possums a place to rest and shelter on your property.
Installing a frog hotel This provides frogs a place to rest and shelter on your property.
Installing a bee hotel This provides bees a place to nest on your property.
Installing a rock pile This provides small reptiles (e.g. skinks, small lizards) opportunities to hide, shelter and bask upon.
Installing a bird bath Provides birds with water, bathing and cooling opportunities.
Installing a pond Provides habitat for aquatic invertebrates and frogs and offers a water resources to other wildlife like small mammals (e.g. bandicoots), birds and reptiles.

Will I learn how to do these surveys and install these structures?

Yes! As a citizen scientist of this project you will be able to learn and undertake a variety of wildlife surveys at your property by:

• Participating in training workshops (at no cost) to learn how to survey and record the wildlife on your property and how to install wildlife friendly structures.
• Receiving a manual to inform you how to undertake garden-based wildlife surveys and install wildlife friendly structures.
• Receiving on-going support from researchers over the project’s life.

Who can be involved?

Everyone and anyone! We are keen to involve as many people as possible and welcome anyone that is interested in participating in the project.

In what ways can I get involved?

There are three ways to be involved in the project:

1. You DON’T already have wildlife friendly structures in your garden and you WANT to install some?
   Get involved by installing some new features in your garden and monitoring the wildlife that use them! For a subset of residents we would love you to do some monitoring of wildlife
   before you install your new features too, as this will tell us if your biodiversity has increased!
2. You DON’T have wildlife friendly structures in your garden and you DON’T WANT to install any?
   Get involved by monitoring the wildlife that is in your garden! We need residents to tell us what’s in gardens when there aren’t any wildlife friendly structures there too!
3. ALREADY HAVE wildlife friendly structures in your garden?
   Get involved by monitoring how regularly wildlife use your wildlife friendly structures! This will tell us how important these structures are for wildlife in urban landscapes.

Sociological Research
In addition to taking part in the wildlife monitoring, we are looking for people to help us investigate whether engaging in wildlife monitoring and wildlife friendly gardening influences people’s happiness, mental health and physical health. By taking part in this aspect of the research, residents will complete a short questionnaire and semi-structured interview before and after undertaking the wildlife monitoring. These questionnaires and interviews would ask questions related to the resident’s current mental health, physical health, happiness and connection to wildlife. By completing these questionnaires and interviews before and after undertaking the wildlife monitoring, researchers can investigate the effects of engaging with conservation and wildlife on human well-being.

Register Now!

Recruitment of citizen scientists is open now!

Complete this short (~10 minute) survey to tell us how you want to be involved.

Take the Survey

Want to know more?

Please contact our Lead Researchers for more information.

• Albany Based: Dr Bronte Van Helden, Research Associate, University of Western Australia [email protected]
• Perth Based: Hannah Gulliver, Citizen Science Project Manager, Perth NRM [email protected]

Our Project Partners

• Community: Armadale Gosnells Landcare Group, Oyster Harbour Catchment Group, Torbay Catchment Group
• State Government: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions – South Coast Region, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions – Swan Region
• Local Government: City of Albany, City of Canning, City of Cockburn, Town of Victoria Park
• Organisations: BirdLife WA, South Coast NRM, South East Regional Council for Urban Landcare, South West Catchment Council, Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute