Project Background

Web 2.0 tools and emerging technologies supporting engagement and monitoring of enhanced biodiversity values

This collaborative project will introduce landholders and other stakeholders to new communication and engagement approaches. Social media will be developed and used to monitor and share information for wildlife ponds across the region. Countless landowners appreciate the wildlife and native vegetation on their farms and in their region, and devote considerable resources to its protection and enhancement. This project will trial innovative approaches to record and communicate the impacts of wildlife ponds through the adoption of social media and emerging online technologies whilst unlocking research data on birds, frogs and reptiles collected over a five-year period.

The main objectives of the project are to:

• Raise awareness of the importance of, and actions to, preserving wildlife diversity within a piped water delivery system, a major response to climate change.
• Provide practical tools to support land managers and other stakeholders in monitoring the impact of wildlife ponds at both a site and regional scale.
• Demonstrate how web 2.0 tools and emerging technologies can be effectively deployed to support local and rural community building activities.
• Support decision makers and land managers who are involved in evaluating the impact of piping rural water supplies.
• Explore whether the adoption approaches for social media and emerging technologies piloted in this project have potential for broader application.

Background

The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline is introducing major changes to the way water is managed on farms. This change is driven by the likely impacts of climate change on the region – less water and a greater need to monitor its efficient use. BCG developed the wildlife ponds concept as a result of research which examined the impact on biodiversity of decommissioning channels and dams (see www.bcg.org.au/cb_pages/DIPS.php).

The concept was trialled at 36 sites and proved that ponds could effectively enhance biodiversity values. The research was highly innovative and won the 2007 National Banksia Award for Land and Biodiversity. Further work has since been undertaken at 23 sites through BCG’s ‘Frogs on Farms’ project (hotlink this project). GWM Water has now established a water rebate scheme for landholders who construct and register a wildlife pond which meets the standards developed by BCG as published in the ‘Farmers Guide to Installing a Wildlife Pond’ www.gwmwater.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=270.

At the 2009 WIDCORP Research Forum, participants identified amongst the variables of concern in western Victoria; social networking, connectedness and biodiversity, with the same three recognised amongst the building blocks of resilience in the sustainability of ecosystems and social-ecological systems in the region.

What will be done

Specific tools will support activities such as creating 3D environments online, maintaining a diary (wiki), easily uploading and labelling photographs (photo gallery tools), sharing audio and video content (integrating with youtube.com and other services), and posting questions for an expert response (discussion forum and other features to support species identification, problem solving etc).

This project will be implemented over a two-year timeframe. The main steps involved will include:

• Engage landholders who have already established wildlife ponds
• Establish initial technology platform to support project and ensure existing data is incorporated into the platform
• Deliver interactive training for landholders through face-to-face and online mediums
• Support landholders and other stakeholders in progressively extending and evaluating the project
• Integrate emerging technologies in response to new stakeholder requirements
• Collect, share and communicate information on the outcomes of the project

For more information: 

Contact Alexandra Gartmann, Jonathan Starks or contact the BCG office on (03) 5492 2787.

Acknowledgements

The project is in collaboration with the Centre for Electronic Commerce and Communications (CeCC), GWM Water, Wimmera CMA and WiDCORP with funding through the Victorian Government’s Collaborative Internet Innovation Fund, a $15 million competitive grants program to accelerate the innovative use of next generation information and communication technology by government, business and community.