By Associate Professor James Van Dyke, Environment & Genetics, La Trobe University
Throughout the world, freshwater turtles are one of the most endangered groups of animals, with over 60 per cent of all species facing extinction. In Australia, turtle declines are caused by invasive predators like foxes eating their eggs, adults getting hit by cars when they walk from pond to pond, along with altered habitats and climate change. Losing turtles has major consequences for freshwater health, since they are one of the most effective scavengers, and consume large amounts of carrion.
Led by La Trobe University, the award-winning 1 Million Turtles (1MT) Community Conservation Program is empowering community members around Australia to take an active role in on-ground conservation efforts to protect declining freshwater turtle numbers.
Conservation is an expensive undertaking, and many endangered species do not receive adequate protection or management from traditional government-led efforts. Community members care about their native species, and we are assisting them to lead their own conservation efforts in order to help bridge the gap.
1MT won the Department of Industry, Science and Resources Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science at the 2023 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes, the country’s most comprehensive national science awards, honouring excellence across research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science.
1MT allows people of all ages to become ‘citizen scientists’ and record turtle sightings via the TurtleSAT app, and also participate in turtle habitat restoration, turtle nest protection, and fox management. So far, we have engaged over 5,000 citizen scientists to deliver direct conservation results for endangered turtle populations in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia.
Citizen scientists have helped us identify hotspots where conservation efforts can be focused for maximum impact. They have directly protected turtle nests from fox and pig predation, and they have helped move turtles across roads to keep them from getting smashed by cars.
To date, our engaged citizen scientists have protected almost 900 nests and saved nearly 1,600 turtles crossing roads. Although this isn’t quite 1 million (yet), each nest contains 10-20 eggs, so our nest protection efforts have saved somewhere between 9,000 and 18,000 eggs from predators, just since 2020. The turtles saved on roads will continue to live their lives, and every female can be expected to produce another 10-20 eggs per year over her 50 to 100-year adult lifespan.
1MT uses social media, a website, newsletters, postcards, and both in-person and online events to engage communities in the project. We provide online training tools for members on how to protect turtle nests, monitor invasive predators, and save turtles from car strikes. We also provide comprehensive training to citizen scientists, focusing on animal ethics and the three R's - Reduction, Refinement, and Replacement - which form the basis of ethical, humane, and effective research. One of our projects aims to train citizen scientists in basic scientific methods, by showing them how to accurately measure and compare fox predation on turtle nests, using supermarket chicken eggs.
By upskilling participants and awarding them digital certificates upon completion, 1MT promotes responsible and ethical research practices, safeguarding the well-being of both participants and animals involved in the research.
The project provides additional benefits beyond the direct on-ground results: the data collected by our citizen scientists has been used to re-assess 16 freshwater turtle species for Federal or State protection. This is more than half of all of Australia’s turtle species.
Community engagement does not end with training. We also provide a community of practice, mainly on social media, which allows our engaged citizen scientists to contact us with questions and feedback. We help our engaged community groups apply for their own funding and permits to do their own conservation work in local areas, and we collaborate with them on more advanced scientific projects.
Our efforts have opened the door to 20 sites in the Murray-Darling Basin where La Trobe PhD, Masters, and Honours students perform on-ground research projects, with community member support. We have provided training and technical support to the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation as they lead their ongoing turtle population surveys in the SA lower lakes.
Finally, 1MT is changing the way citizen science is brought to children to improve scientific literacy and care for their local environment through the Turtles in Schools program – currently being piloted in NSW primary schools.
To learn more about the initiative and to get involved, visit the 1 Million Turtles website.
La Trobe Industry Communications and Media Enquiries: industry.engagement@latrobe.edu.au
