Citizen science

Photographing brown ringlet butterfly

Redland City Council has a proud history of working with community groups and individuals on citizen science projects. Help us gather more data about our local area by becoming a citizen scientist.

What is citizen science?

Citizen science is research conducted by members of the community, who may or may not have science qualifications.

As a citizen scientist you will:

  • Build your knowledge of local plants and wildlife.
  • Contribute to studies and projects that use your data to make a difference.
  • Enjoy time in nature, living a healthier, active lifestyle. 

Our projects and how to get started

Redland City Council is using  iNaturalist to collect data about the natural environment on Redlands Coast.

Download the iNaturalist app on your android phone or iPhone and begin logging local flora and fauna observations. Once your observations are reviewed and verified by an online community of citizen scientists, they become research grade. This data helps to feed larger databases such as Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), a collaborative, national project that brings biodiversity data together from multiple sources and makes it available and usable online. ALA is supported by the CSIRO.

Remember, the observations you contribute will support important environmental projects and conservation initiatives on Redlands Coast.

Join a local iNaturalist project

Conservation areas

Do you love spending your weekends exploring Redlands Coast? Have you ever seen something exciting and wanted to share it with your community? Well now you can log observations of flora and fauna in our conservation areas using our iNaturalist project.

  1. Simply log into your iNaturalist account.
  2. Search “Conservation Areas on Redlands Coast".
  3. Select “Join” and start observing.

 

Community Bushcare on Redlands Coast

The Community Bushcare program has created an iNaturalist project especially for volunteers to use at Bushcare sites across the city. Making iNaturalist observations at Bushcare working bees is a fun way to learn about nature and contribute to citizen science. Your observations help build a picture of biodiversity in our precious Bushcare areas to share with the community.

Email the Community Bushcare Team for more information.

 

Environmental Partnerships Program

If you are an Environmental Partnerships participant, we have created a project specifically for you to log sightings on your property and capture this valuable data. Fellow participants and our Environmental Partnerships Officers will help you with species identification.

For more information and links to the projects specific to your program, email the Environmental Partnerships Team.

 

Redlands IndigiScapes Centre

Not sure where to begin your iNaturalist journey? Why not start at the Redlands IndigiScapes Centre. Explore our three beautiful bush tracks and see what you might discover. Any observations logged at the centre will automatically appear on our collector project. If you want to check out the recent observations or keep track of updates, you can join our project.

  1. Simply log into your iNaturalist account.
  2. Search “Redlands IndigiScapes Centre".
  3. Select “Join” and start observing.

 

Great Southern Bioblitz

Great Southern Bioblitz is an international event, taking place in spring across the Southern Hemisphere. You can head out into nature to record your observations using iNaturalist.

At the end of the blitz, iNaturalist experts will then verify all observations. This international effort provides a large amount of citizen science data that can then be drawn upon for research and policy-making purposes.

Explore observations recorded during the 2025 bioblitz by logging into iNaturalist and visiting the Great Southern Bioblitz 2025: Redlands Coast project.

 

 

Report koala sightings

Redlands Coast Koala Watch is your opportunity to help improve the health and wellbeing of our local koala population. For more information and to record your koala sightings, visit Redlands Coast Koala Watch.

 

Further Information

To help you download and use iNaturalist, here are some useful resources.

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