A new project is calling on holiday-makers heading to Kangaroo Island, off South Australia’s mainland, to take part in a unique environmental study on their travels.
Key points:
- Visitors to Kangaroo Island are being asked to provide useful conservation and ecology information to researchers
- Tourists can receive reward points to use at businesses in exchange for their help
- The program is backed by the federal government
The $1.1 million Passport to Recovery program, backed by the federal government, will use data generated by tourists towards four conservation and ecology sub-projects by Flinders University.
Simple tasks have been developed for participants to provide researchers with a wealth of useful information.
The Dirty Boots project, for example, asks hikers to take a swab of their dirty boots and send the sample in for analysis.
The samples will be used to track a highly infectious plant root pathogen, which is causing a die-back of native vegetation across the island.
Flinders University researcher Nicholas Wilkins said the water mould could be easily transmitted through movements such as footprints.
“After we detect it, we will be mapping all of the places around the island where the samples have come from,” he said.
“After the mapping has started, we’ll be able to identify different areas that are infected and then limit the amount of movement in these areas so it doesn’t spread and cause more problems.”
Instructions can be found on a mobile app or website, or through a “passport” available at the Sealink Ferry terminal or Kingscote Airport.
Project leader Karen Burke da Silva said there were benefits for everyone involved.
“The advantage clearly to us is getting that large database, but the way the citizen gets something out of it is that they get to be involved in real science,” she said.
“They get some value through participation — doing something, giving back to the community and giving back to science — and even greater, they learn about the environment and conservation.”
After checking off tasks, reward points are accumulated that can be used at selected local businesses.
“You might get a reduction on a bottle of wine or a cup of coffee,” Ms Burke da Silva said.
“It’s really encouraging people to take part in the projects … and get that generation of both looking at how the island is coming back both environmentally as well as economically.”
Tourism industry bounces back after bushfires
In December 2019, dry lightning strikes during a summer storm sparked multiple fires on Kangaroo Island.
Relentless strikes over the following week then caused several other bushfires, forming what was known as the Ravine fire complex.
The devastation was widespread.
Two men lost their lives, almost 60,000 livestock died, 87 homes were destroyed and 210,000 hectares of land was charred — making it the worst bushfire event in the island’s history.
Now, three years on, tourists are heading to the island in droves as the environment returns to its former luscious glory.
Chair of the Kangaroo Island Tourism Alliance Susi Whitehead says the economic recovery has been “remarkable”.
“We’ve been well-supported by our South Australian mainland visitors and then the opening of the eastern borders has really helped,” she said.
“We’ve actually had the strongest winter on record.
“Absolutely expecting visitor numbers to go through the roof this summer as per usual.”
More projects are expected to be rolled out on the Passport to Recovery app in the new year.
