Landcare Week 2010
Landcare Australia is encouraging everyone to become a citizen scientist during Landcare Week.
Every Australian can participate in this Landcare Week activity. Simply register with ClimateWatch and you can monitor, collect and record data that will help shape the Australia’s scientific response to climate change.
Data collected by ClimateWatch will be used by anyone studying the impact of climate change on ecosystems.
ClimateWatch – the unique program where your eyes and ears will help shape Australia’s scientific response to climate change. ClimateWatch is the feature of this year’s Landcare Week, where by collecting and recording information from your own backyard, you will help scientists study the impact of climate change on our ecosystems . Simply register now to become a ClimateWatcher.
Five species to start you off
To start you off five species have been selected as part of Landcare Week; Willy Wagtail, Magpie, Striped Marsh Frog, Ribwort Plantain and Cabbage White Butterfly.
Note: There are over 80 indicator species to observe so you can be sure there will be plenty to look out for in your area.
Search for other species in your region here on the ClimateWatch site under the Species tab: http://www.climatewatch.org.au/species/all
Download the Landcare registration pack
To find out more about each of these species download the Landcare Week Welcome Pack.
Make regular observations
Once you have decided on a species to watch, it’s a good idea to think about how you can make ClimateWatch part of your regular weekly activities and to keep a pen and paper handy – or a ClimateWatch recording sheet – to make a note of your observations on the spot.
Become a volunteer
Looking for a local Landcare Group to volunteer with? Search for a group on the new National Landcare Directory .
Spread the word
Remember to spread the word about ClimateWatch to your friends, family and Landcare groups in your area. Every Australian can take part in ClimateWatch.
Landcare Groups
If you are a group, please register your Landcare Week activities on the new National Landcare Directory. It will take you 5 minutes to register, the new directory is a terrific opportunity for groups to promote events and activities throughout the year, attract volunteers and promote projects. You can register if you are a landcare, Coastcare, ‘Friends of’, Rivercare, bushcare or Junior Landcare group (includes schools, scouts and other youth groups).
Register Your Landcare Week Event on the National Landcare Directory
Landcare Week Group Promo Kit (Click to view)
The kit includes a few images and tools you and your landcare or coastcare group or a Landcare Australia supporting corporate partner can download to help promote Landcare Week 2010 in your local paper, newsletter, website, facebook page or email.
The kit includes a few images and tools you and your landcare or coastcare group can download to help promote Landcare Week 2010 in your local paper, newsletter, website, facebook page or email.
More about Landcare Week 2010
Landcare Australia is giving every Australian the opportunity to help scientists across the globe study the impact of climate change on our ecosystems by monitoring, collecting and recording data from their own backyards.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was the first person in Australia to register with the ClimateWatch.
People can register to become citizen scientists as part of this free activity which takes place during Landcare Week, which runs from 6th to 13th September. Participants will observe and record what is happening in their own environment such as when frogs are calling, what birds are migrating and what plants are flowering. The data gathered will then help scientists understand what seasonal variations are occurring around Australia with our animals and plants.
“All around Australia, Landcare groups and their volunteers are already making observations about species and animals habitats and the impact of climate change in their local communities. This September we are appealing to all Australians to get their hands dirty and volunteer to become citizen scientists. Help Landcare groups celebrate Landcare Week,” said Landcare Australia CEO, Heather Campbell.
Earthwatch Australia Executive Director, Richard Gilmore said: “Climate change is affecting rainfall and temperature across Australia and as a consequence flowering times, breeding cycles and migration movements are changing. Scientists have identified an urgent need for large-scale data gathering to assess how biological systems are responding to climate change. By partnering with Landcare Australia, we hope to significantly increase the amount of data available for scientists to apply to their research.”
As Landcare ClimateWatchers people will have the opportunity to become part of a community of citizen scientists who are making a positive contribution to their local environment from work, school and home.
To register to be a Landcare ClimateWatcher or for more information about Landcare Week events in your local community, visit http://www.climatewatch.org.au/user/register?profile_referrer=Landcare%20Week
Landcare Week and ClimateWatch Quick Facts!
- We are currently losing biodiversity at about 1000 times the ‘normal’ extinction rate. Climate change is accelerating this.
Scientist: Prof Steve Williams, James Cook University, QLD
- Birds around the world are breeding earlier. In Australia we are only just starting to find out what is going on.
Scientists: Dr Lynda Chambers, Bureau of Meteorology, VIC & Prof Steve Williams, James Cook University, QLD
- Some of Australia’s migratory birds are arriving earlier and leaving later. What’s going on?
Scientists: Dr Linda Beaumont & Prof Lesley Hughes, Macquarie University, NSW
- With a change of 1-2 degrees, in Australia’s wet tropics the ‘core habitat’ of most species may decline. With 2-3 degrees much of the Great Barrier Reef will be bleached annually. With 5 degrees change there will be disruption to all ecosystems and likelihood of mass extinction.
Scientists: Prof Steve Williams, James Cook University, QLD and Dr Linda Beaumont, Macquarie University, NSW
- Climate change will alter the distribution of weeds. Weeds that are an issue in the tropical north will also become problematic further south while many of the weeds we currently tackle in more temperate areas will start to disappear.
Scientist: Prof Lesley Hughes, Macquarie University, NSW
- In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported there were 29,000 data sets around the world showing how plants and animals were responding to the changing climate. Only 6 were from Australia. We need more data!
Scientist: Dr Lynda Chambers, Bureau of Meteorology, VIC
- The distribution of some plants and animals is predicted to shift radically due to climate change. By the end of the 21st Century, scientists believe species will move hundreds to thousands of kilometres towards the poles or up the mountains. Where will those at the top of mountains go and what about those stranded in isolated nature reserves?
Scientist: Dr Tim Entwisle, Botanic Gardens Trust, NSW
- Australia is the most megadiverse developed country and supports almost 10 per cent of the biological diversity on earth. In some parts of Australia, like the Wet Tropics in Queensland approximately 50% of the species are facing extinction by 2050 through climate change.
Scientist: Prof Steve Williams, James Cook University, QLD
- 40% of the world’s food supply is dependent on insect pollinators. In Europe the growing season for many crops is getting earlier every year. The birds and bees don’t always keep up. Is it a problem and what’s going on in Australia?
Scientist: Dr Tim Entwisle, Botanic Gardens Trust, NSW
- Over the last 200 years Australia has suffered the largest documented decline in biodiversity of any continent. Despite efforts to manage threats and pressures to biodiversity in Australia, it is still in decline. Climate Change is adding to all the problems we already have. We need a warning system – ClimateWatch.
Scientist: Prof Steve Williams, James Cook University, QLD
- Earlier migration and breeding of animals and flowering of plants provide the strongest evidence that species are already responding to climate change.
Scientists: Dr Linda Beaumont & Prof Lesley Hughes, Macquarie University, NSW
- So much data from the northern hemisphere, so little down-under. We urgently need to develop our data sets.
Scientists: Dr Linda Beaumont & Prof Lesley Hughes, Macquarie University, NSW
More about campaign partners and sponsors
About Landcare Australia:
Landcare is a non-political, uniquely Australian partnership between the community, government and business to protect and repair Australia’s magnificent, yet stressed, natural resources. It consists of approximately 4000 Landcare and 2000 Coast care groups made up of volunteers that work together on projects such as revegetation, weed removal, stream bank stabilisation, litter removal and dune stabilisation to name but a few. These groups are varied in nature and many do not include landcare in their name but are still captured under the landcare banner due to them being individuals or groups of volunteers who tackle environmental issues at a local level. Thus Landcare and Coastcare also include many farmers embracing sustainable farm management, ‘friends of’ groups as well as bushcare, rivercare and many other voluntary organisations. For further information on Landcare Australia and the landcare movement, visit www.landcareonline.com.au
Campaign Partner – ClimateWatch:
ClimateWatch is a community monitoring program that allows every Australian to be involved in collecting and recording data that will help shape the country’s scientific response to climate change. The information collected through Climate Watch is building an important picture of events that occur in the natural world every year, how these vary and what the implications are. The result is an online database available to scientists studying the impact of climate on ecosystems. Based on successful overseas examples, ClimateWatch is the first project of its kind in the southern hemisphere and has been developed by Earthwatch Australia together with the Bureau of Meteorology and The University of Melbourne, with seed funding from the Australian Government. For further information visit: www.climatewatch.org.au.
Campaign Sponsor – Qantas Foundation:
The Qantas Foundation was established in April 2008 and is the Qantas Group’s major philanthropic and sustainability initiative. Over a 90 year history, Qantas has been at the forefront of helping Australians in need. Our people have always been there during times of humanitarian crisis. The Qantas Foundation builds on this history, with a vision to harness the resources and people of Qantas to empower and support organisations and initiatives dedicated to building a sustainable future for all Australians and to help communities in times of need. In just over two and half years, the Qantas Foundation has pursued these goals by committing over $2 million worth of support to important charitable causes in Australia and abroad. Our partnership with Landcare Australia is one such example. Commencing in 2009, the Qantas Foundation has donated $200,000 to support the partnership in major grassroots community and environmental projects with a particular focus on water sustainability in various Australian regions. For more information on the Qantas Foundation please visit our website on www.qantas.com.au/foundation
