Threatened Species Day is recognised across the Australia on 7 September every year to raise awareness of plants and animals at risk of extinction. Threatened Species Day acknowledges the death of the last remaining Thylacine, Tasmanian tiger at Hobart Zoo in 1936. It is a day to reflect on what you can do to make a difference, the future is in your hands.
Australia is home to more than 500,000 animal and plant species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Over the last 240 years, more than 100 animal and plant species have become extinct. 1,800 animals and plants are at risk of extinction and many are iconic Australian species including east coast koalas and the greater glider.
Threatened Species Day is a time to focus on or native plants, animals, and ecosystems and look at how we can protect them into the future. Encouraging wildlife into your backyard by creating a sanctuary for native animals is a great way to start.
The What’s in your Backyard series of videos on YouTube can help you connect with your local environment. Remember just to look and listen to the world around you and you will be surprised about that you might find!
Mangroves are a vital ecosystem that benefit our environment, economy, and communities. However they are severely under threat. An estimated 67% of historical mangrove habitat has been lost or degraded worldwide, with 20% occurring since 1980.
Mangroves are found in the intertidal zones of tropical, subtropical and protected temperate coastal rivers, estuaries and bays, where they grow in fine sediments deposited by rivers and tides. Mangrove trees have a characteristic growth form, including aerial structural roots and exposed breathing roots. This helps them cope with regular tidal inundation and a lack of oxygen in the soil.
Mangrove tree and pneumatophores in Moreton Bay, Qld. BoundaryRider
Mangrove forest protect coastlines from storm surges
Mangrove forests provide breeding nurseries for a wide range of fish and crustaceans, including many species of commercial and recreational value. The forests also provide a habitat for many marine invertebrates species. Terrestrial fauna including insects, reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals use mangroves for food, shelter, breeding and feeding grounds.
Mangrove forests occur in many of Australia’s coastal regions. Today the total area is only 0.9 million hectares or 0.6% of Australia’s native forest cover. Since 1980, we have lost half of the mangrove forests. Some countries have lost more than 80% of their mangrove population.
Explore your local mangroves this weekend. If you are in Sydney head to the Badu Mangrove Boardwalk in Bicentennial Park and you’ll discover surviving riverside wetlands that shelter colourful waterbirds plus the largest mangrove forest remaining on the Parramatta River.
I have spent the last 3 weeks exploring fossil sites across NSW and Queensland. 20 days on the road with my family travelling almost 5000km across some amazing parts of Australia. This trip has been on my bucket list for a while.
Much of the journey took us over the Great Artesian Basin. The waters of the Great Artesian Basin are held in a sandstone layer laid down by continental erosion of higher ground during the Triassic, Jurassic, and early Cretaceous periods. During this time much of inland Australia was covered by the Eromanga Sea and a layer of marine sedimentary rock formed a confining layer, trapping water in the sandstone aquifer. The eastern edge of the basin was uplifted when the Great Dividing Range formed.
Lightning Ridge
Our first stop was Lightning Ridge to see opalised fossils, the famous black opal and relax in hot springs fed by the Great Artesian Basin.
Hot Springs
We went to the famous Bottle House full of rocks, fossils and curios, went underground to explore an opal mine and went fossicking. The best way to wind down after a big day fossil hunting is to soak in the hot springs. The artesian water flowing from the bore maintains a temperature of around 41.5C and the water flows at 9 litres per second.
Winton
From Lightning Ridge we made our way into central Queensland and up to Winton. Winton is a great town with lot of things to do, but we were there for the Dinosaurs.
Winton is also famous for poet Banjo Patterson and his characters are the inspiration for the nicknames given to many of the dinosaurs found around Winton. Banjo (Australovenator) and Matilda (Diamantinasaurus) were both found buried together in what turns out to be a 98 million-year old billabong.
The dinosaur bones are from rocks found in the Winton Formation, a geological layer 102-98 million years old. Since excavations began many types of dinosaurs have been found, including plant-eating ankylosaurs and ornithopods, plus the serrated teeth of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs.
Three famous species of dinosaur have been formally scientifically named from Winton:
From Winton we travelled through a beautiful part of Australia, very green from recent rains. The journey between Winton and Bedourie was truly spectacular and we were happy to find more hot springs on arrival in Bedourie.
Landscape from Winton to Boulia Qld.
Eromanga
Our next destination was to Eromanga to see more Dinosaur fossils and Megafauna fossils from Eulo. The Dinosaur fossils are found 2 metres below the current day surface and the Megafauna fossils like Diprotodon are being found in layers 1 metre below the surface.
From Eromanga we turned south and made our long way back home to Sydney.
Wellington Caves
We didn’t stop at Wellington Caves on this trip, but is is definitely worth a visit. Fossil vertebrates have been collected at the caves since the 1830’s. The fossil deposits contain bones from mammals, including bats, rodents and monotremes and from reptiles and birds. The age range of the fossils is from the late Pliocene to late Pleistocene approximately 3.5 million – 40,000 years ago.
It was an amazing journey , but I’m already planning my next trip through Lake Mungo to Naracoorte Caves and then the Finders Ranges to see the Ediacaran fossils.
World Environment Day is celebrated every 5th of June and this years theme is “Only One Earth” with the focus on “Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature”.
“Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature” has also been a key focus of mine since starting Australian Environmental Education. I believe you can make a difference today with every choice you make.
There are many ways that you can help to conserve Australia’s environment and be more sustainable. Think about the choices you make every day; how do you get to school, what do you put in the bin, how long was your shower today, did you remember the reusable bag for the shopping?
Help restore your local ecosystem this World Environment day with these great activities. Creating a Wildlife Habitat is a 5 part program that can help you plan and plant a wildlife habitat at your school, home or local area.
In urban areas, human development has reduced the natural habitat available to frogs. The Focus on Frogs workshop provides information and skills that will enable you to discover what frogs live in your backyard or local area.
Minibeasts in your Garden explores the diverse world of minibeasts. Discover why minibeasts are important and learn how find them in your garden or local park. The program will help you to identify common groups of backyard minibeasts and provides information and skills to conduct your own minibeasts investigation.
You don’t see many of the animals that live in your local area because they are nocturnal. Often it is the Noises in the Night that give us a clue to the nocturnal species that are living in our local area.
Today is World Water Day, the 22 March highlights the importance of freshwater. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. This years theme is “Groundwater – making the invisible visible” and explores the importance of groundwater.
Water covers 75% of the earth’s surface, however only a very small amount is freshwater that can be used directly by people, animals and plants because:
97% of this water is in oceans and is too salty for people, animals or plants to use
2% is frozen at the north and south poles, in glaciers and on snowy mountain ranges
Only 1% is avaiable as freshwater in rivers, lakes and groundwater.
Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere. Our drinking water and sanitation, our food supply and natural environment–all these rely on groundwater.
Groundwater is critically important to the healthy functioning of ecosystems, such as wetlands. In deltas and coastal areas, groundwater also ensures the stability of the ground and prevents seawater intrusion under the land.
Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere.
Under our feet, groundwater is a hidden treasure that enriches our lives.
Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater.
As climate change gets worse, groundwater will become more and more critical.
We need to work together to sustainably manage this precious resource.
Groundwater may be out of sight, but it must not be out of mind.
Water is essential for all life and is the most abundant substance on Earth, yet water scarcity is one of the biggest issues facing us today. Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent and 2019 was the hottest and driest year on record.
The natural water cycle has been modified by people to ensure a constant water supply and the safe disposal of wastewater. The Urban Water Cycle incorporates the Water Supply System, Wastewater system and the Stormwater system.
Water is the most common substance found on earth, so why is it important? Water is essential for all forms of life and can dissolve nearly anything. It can exist as a gas (water vapour and steam), a liquid (water) and a solid (ice).
Discover the frogs living in your local area this World Frog Day. Did you know that Australia has over 245 species of frog, most that are found nowhere else in the world. You can encourage frogs into your backyard by creating a frog friendly garden.
In urban areas, human development has reduced the natural habitat available to frogs. Some species are doing well like the Striped Marsh Frog, Peron’s Tree Frog and Common Eastern Froglet. Unfortunately other frog species have been in decline since the 1980s.
Striped Marsh Frog
Peron’s Tree Frog
Peron’s Tree Frog and
You can do your part to help local frogs by creating a frog friendly environment. This will encourage frogs to come to live and breed in your backyard. Create a small shallow pond in an area that is partly shaded or install a Frog Hotel.
Reducing chemicals use in your garden
Be patient and wait, if you build it they will come
Use FrogID to research the frogs that are found in you local area. This will help you work out what kind of habitat will suit your backyard best. You can use PVC pipe to create a habitat for tree frogs. Frog Tubes are an easy way to provide somewhere safe for tree frogs to live too. Use a 1 metre length of PVC pipe and stick the base in the ground or tie them to a tree. It provides a really moist environment for tree frogs to hide in.
A Frog Hotel are another great option for tree frogs and provides them a safe place to hide during the day. Check out the video below for instructions on how ro make a Frog Hotel.
Discover more about frogs and some of their amazing adaptions. There is also information to help you create a frog friendly backyard.
SeaWeek is a campaign to focus community awareness, provide information and encourage an appreciation of the sea. The dates are on 5 – 13 March 2022 and this years theme is Our SEArch – what will you discover?. The theme is based on the Ocean Literacy Principle that the Ocean is largely unexplored.
Key marine environments; ocean, coral reef and mangroves
I relate to this years theme as I love exploring the coastline and below the oceans waves. There is always so much to discover if you look. I have a range of resources to learn more about our marine world and for your to discover something new this SeaWeek.
FREE On Demand session
My Journey Beneath the Waves takes you and your students on an exploration of the marine environment. The temperate waters around Sydney are home to a variety of habitats including kelp beds and sponge gardens. These are wonderful place to dive and discover the diversity of animals that live there.
I talk about my experiences SCUBA diving and take you on a journey beneath the waves to explore this wonderful world.
Education Resources
Oceans contain the greatest diversity of life on Earth. Habitats range from the freezing polar regions to the warm waters of the coral reefs, deep sea hydrothermal vents to shallow seagrass beds and beautiful sponge gardens to giant kelp forests, marine organisms are found everywhere.
Australia is home to the over 10,000 beaches and no part of Australia is more than 1,000km from the ocean. Our coasts are impacted by our actions on land. Rubbish and microplastics can be found washed up on almost every Australian beach.
Pollution and rubbish get washed into our rivers and waterways with stormwater runoff and end up on our coasts and oceans. Over 75% of this rubbish is plastic. Plastics in the environment can take hundreds of years to break down, thereby impacting marine species for generations.
The Beach Survey provides a starting point to understand the types of rubbish in the marine environment.
We just finished a lovely SCUBA dive in Chowder Bay in Sydney Harbour and my sister will now forever be known as the Octopus Whisperer. She has always had a great eye for detail when we dive together. However on this dive, even in the murky water she was incredible.
Images: John Turnbull
She lead the way on this adventure while I was testing out my new underwater camera. While I was focused on the camera, she was spotting octopus, moray eels, seahorses and more. She found 4 Common Sydney Octopus, Octopus tetricus hiding under rocks in the sand and even one using shells to camouflage.
The Common Sydney Octopus can grow up to 80cms in size, they are big, but very good at hiding. She was definitely the Octopus Whisperer on this dive and I can’t wait to see what she finds on the next dive!
Michelle has been my dive buddy for the last 25 years and we have had some amazing adventures together, I literally trust her with my life! Check out the video of our adventure. The new camera is great and hopefully my camera skills will improve too.
World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February every year. It is time for everyone to understand the importance of wetlands. This years theme is ‘Wetlands Action for People and Nature’. It’s an appeal to invest financial, human and political capital to save the world’s wetlands from disappearing and to restore those we have degraded..
Why are Wetlands important for Biodiversity?
Wetlands are important because 40% of the world’s plant and animal species live or breed in wetlands. Over 100,000 freshwater species have been identified in wetlands. Wetlands absorb and store water and help remove pollutant from our water.
Did you know?
Coastal wetlands are among the most biologically diverse places on earth
Coral Reef and Mangrove forest protect coastlines from storm surges
Wetlands are vanishing three times faster than forests with 35% disappearing since the 1970s. The causes of wetland loss include:
Drainage and infilling for agriculture and construction
Pollution
Overexploitation of resources including overfishing
Invasive species
Climate change
Since 1970 populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles have declined by 60%. There has also been a decline of 81% of inland wetland species and 36% of coastal and marine species. A staggering 25% of wetland species are considered to be threatened with extinction, including water birds, freshwater dependent mammals, marine turtles, and coral reef building species.
Wetlands are areas of land saturated or flooded with water permanently or seasonally.
There are amazing wetlands to explore in the middle of Sydney.
Sydney Olympic Parks is an urban oasis connecting people with nature. This is a great place to explore to understand the importance of wetlands for biodiversity.
Frog Walk
The Frog Walk takes you to frog ponds, frog underpasses and even frog fencing at Wentworth Common and Kronos Hill. You can also visit the Brickpit Ring Walk too see the most significant habitat for the endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog. Remember healthy frogs are an indicator of healthy ecosystems.
Narrawang Wetland
Meander along walking paths and a reed-fringed boardwalk to observe the habitat that supports a colony of the endangered Green and Golden Bell frogs and other frog species.
Badu Mangrove Boardwalk
Stroll the winding timber boardwalk in Bicentennial Park and you’ll discover surviving riverside wetlands that shelter colourful waterbirds plus the largest mangrove forest remaining on the Parramatta River.
Waterbird Refuge at Bicentennial Park
Walk up to the Waterbird Refuge significant waterbird habitat with a high abundance and diversity of resident and migratory birds. Together with the surrounding mangrove forest, the wetland is listed as a ‘Wetland of National Importance’ by the Commonwealth Government because of its high ecological values.
When the north easterly winds arrive on the east coast of Australia, so do the Bluebottles. They are a common but unwelcome visitor to our beaches in summer. But what do you really know about these fascinating animals!
Bluebottle Physaliautriculus
Bluebottles are not actually jellyfish but a colony of organisms called zooiods. They are composed of four separate colonies of polyps and medusoids including dactylozooids, pneumatophore, gastrozooids, and gonozoids.
The dactylozooids form the tentacles and detect and capture food. The food is transferred to the gastrozooids for digestion. The gonozooids are adjacent to the gastrozooids and constitute the reproductive structures of the colony. The pneumatophore is a gas-filled polyp that keeps it afloat and supports the rest of the colony.
Fun Fact: the collective noun for a group of Bluebottles is an ‘Armarda’
Bluebottles can sail either to the right or left depending on which way a crest on the float is angled. This means that the wind will push parts of the armarda in different directions to avoid the entire group from being washed ashore.
However, when the wind is right they are often stranded in large numbers along the east coast of Australia. They can cause painful stings when encountered in the water or on the beach.
What should you do if you get stung by a Bluebottle?
When the tentacles of the Bluebottle touches your skin they release nematocysts (stinging cells) like tiny harpoons, piercing your skin and injecting venom. The venom comprises of a mixture of phenols and protein which causes pain.
The best way to avoid a Bluebottle sting is to avoid going in the water when there are Bluebottles washed up on the shore or when lifeguards have put up warning signs. If you are unlucky and do get stung follow these simple rules.
Do not rub the stung area
Wash off the remaining stinging cells with saltwater.
Apply hot water to the sting to reduce the discomfort
Heat also breaks down the proteins in the venom
Find a place to rest
Remember: people can have a different reaction to stings, if symptoms persist seek medical assistance.
Blue Sea DragonGlaucus atlanticus They spend their life floating upside down in the water. They feed almost exclusively on Bluebottles and can store their stinging cells.
