Australia (Commonwealth Union) – Advances in technology and better data analytics tools have helped track and monitor endangered species across the world.
A bird protection tool created by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) has been recognized by one of the country’s top sustainability prizes, the NSW Banksia Award, which acknowledges individuals, communities, businesses for the price. The victory was for BirdCast, an online app developed by the Sustainable Farms team at ANU, that assists farmers monitor birds on their properties, came after the Eureka Prize previously this year.
With the application of decades of data from over 60 birds, BirdCast is a tool that produces bird occupancy estimates in a wide variety of habitats.
The award for the researchers recognizes the way Sustainable Farms are leading the change in the biodiversity field, with innovative methods to pave the way for a more sustainable future.
Director of Sustainable Farms, Michelle Young, stated that BirdCast was available absolutely free and was produced to assist farmers identify management activities that brings in support conservation of birds with the click of a button. “BirdCast draws on nearly two decades of data collected by Sustainable Farms ecologists on hundreds of farms in southeastern Australia,” Young said and explained that with many species of native wildlife facing threats and reduced biodiversity across the world, farmers have an opportunity to play a role in forming habitats for numerous species.
“At a time when many species of plants and animals are threatened by extinction, woodland areas on farms are extremely valuable, providing food and homes for many of these species,” Young noted.
The BirdCast tool gives farmers the ability to predict what birds might settle in woodland areas on their farm, and learn how bird occupancy may change under an array of management actions.
As the first predictive, statistically based, empirical tool it has been used by over 600 people in under 12 months.
