Turtle conservation is having its time in the spotlight, after the 1 Million Turtles Community Conservation Project was awarded a Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science last week.
1 Million Turtles is a collaboration between researchers from the University of New England (UNE), La Trobe University, and Western Sydney University, and gives individuals and community groups the opportunity to participate in activities such as turtle habitat construction and restoration, turtle nest protection and fox management.
Associate Professor Deborah Bower from UNE is one of the researchers involved, and says the prize is an opportunity to expand awareness of the program.
“It’s very exciting for us to receive a Eureka Prize and recognise all the hard work of the citizen scientists and turtle conservationists around Australia,” she says.
“We hope the award will help us find ongoing funding for the project and increase promotion of the TurtleSAT app and range of conservation activities available to community members.”
The TurtleSAT app is at the heart of the highly successful program and enables community members to record their sightings anywhere in Australia, with the data helping to reduce turtle deaths.
Emphasising science, technology, engineering and mathematics literacy and First Nations knowledge, the Australia-wide program has influenced policy and saved over 1000 freshwater turtles and 200 nests in 2022 alone.
“The program has changed attitudes toward STEM and has created opportunities for community members to actively learn, participate and contribute to freshwater turtle research and conservation,” La Trobe University's Associate Professor James Van Dyke says.
With this new wave of support, A/Prof Bower hopes the 1 Million Turtles program will continue to flourish in years to come.
“What’s next for the 1 Million Turtles project? Hopefully one billion turtles, or at least one billion Australians that are helping to conserve turtles by protecting nests, moving them from roads, creating nesting islands and helping to build a dataset to guide in management across the country.”
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