Bush Blitz team at Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected area in the Gibson Desert WA

Bush Blitz is a species discovery program conducting scientific surveys in Australian terrestrial and marine environments to document known and new fungi, plants and animals. The program is a partnership between the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch Australia. Bush Blitz is managed through

Parks Australia Director of National Parks is a Commonwealth corporate entity responsible for the management of a portfolio of terrestrial and marine protected areas proclaimed under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (''EP ...

and the

Australian Biological Resources Study Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) is a project undertaken by the Parks Australia Division of Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Background ABRS was founded in 1973 from the recommendations ...

. The program began in 2010, the

International Year of Biodiversity The International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) was a year-long celebration of biological diversity and its importance, taking place internationally in 2010. Coinciding with the date of the 2010 Biodiversity Target, the year was declared by the 61s ...

, involving specialist taxonomists, indigenous communities, rangers and landowners, teachers, students and BHP employees. Bush Blitz funds taxonomy and further research based on material collected during Bush Blitz surveys, specifically targeted to assist in the publication of new species and the resolution of problematic groups collected from surveys.

Expeditions

Bush Blitz conducts surveys in Australia's

National Reserve System Australia's National Reserve System (NRS) is a network of more than 10,000 Commonwealth of Australia, Commonwealth plus States and territories of Australia, state and territory protected areas which, in combination, on a national scale, protect ...

, made up of more than 9,000 properties, national parks and reserves. Expeditions have included: * Quinkan, Queensland, 2017 *

Croajingolong National Park The Croajingolong National Park is a coastal national park located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and south of Sydney. The name ''Croajingolong'' ...

, Victoria, 2016 * Mallacoota, Victoria, 2016 *

Lake Torrens Lake Torrens ( Kuyani: ''Ngarndamukia'') is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf. ...

, South Australia, 2016 *

Kiwirrkurra Kiwirrkurra, gazetted as Kiwirrkurra Community, is a small community in Western Australia in the Gibson Desert, east of Port Hedland, Western Australia, Port Hedland and west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Alice Springs. It had a popul ...

IPA Western Australia, 2015 * Judbarra / Gregory National Park, NT, 2015 * Olkola Country, Queensland, 2015 *

Carnarvon Station Reserve Carnarvon Station Reserve is a 59,000–hectare nature reserve in the Great Dividing Range of south-eastern Central Queensland, Australia. It is adjacent to Carnarvon National Park, and includes most of the Channin Creek valley. It is 600 km we ...

, Queensland, 2014 *

Durack River Durack River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river rises below the Durack Range then flows north, discharging into the west arm of Cambridge Gulf. There are 14 tributaries of the Durack, including Chapman River, W ...

and Karunjie Stations, Western Australia 2014 *

Flinders Island Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is from Cape Portland, Tasmania, Cape Portl ...

, Tasmania, 2014 * Five Rivers Reserve and trawtha makuminya, Tasmania, 2014 * Green Carpenter Bee in Quinkan Country far north Queensland

Namadgi National Park ACT and Kosciuszko National Park NSW, 2013 *

Henbury Station Henbury Station is a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. In March 2022 Henbury was purchased by Tim Edmunds for A$32 million, including its 3500 cattle. Description It is situated about south of Alice Springs in the No ...

, NT, 2013 *

Hiltaba Nature Reserve Hiltaba Nature Reserve is located in the north of the Eyre Peninsula on the western edge of the Gawler Ranges, South Australia. It is situated on a former pastoral lease known as Hiltaba, or Hiltaba Station, that had operated as a sheep statio ...

and

Gawler Ranges National Park Gawler Ranges National Park is a protected area lying north-west of Adelaide in the northern Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. It is known for its spectacular rock formations. History The national park originated as the Paney Station pasto ...

, SA, 2012 *

Wongalara Sanctuary Wongalara Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. Location It is a pastoral lease on the southern border of Arnhem Land, and is south-east of Kakadu National Park. The sanctuary shares a boundary wi ...

, NT, 2012 *

Fish River Station Fish River Station is a protected area approximately south of Daly River and south of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is bounded to the north and the east by the Daly River, to the west by the Wingate Mountains, and to the ...

, NT, 2012 * Skullbone Plains, Tasmania, 2012 * Credo Station Reserve WA, 2011 * Cane River Conservation Park, Cane River region, WA, 2011 * Lake Condah ( Kurtonitj,

Lake Condah Lake Condah, also known by its Gunditjmara name Tae Rak, is in the Australian state of Victoria, about west of Melbourne and north-east of Heywood by road. It is in the form of a shallow basin, about in length and wide. The lake is loca ...

and

Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area Budj Bim heritage areas includes several protected areas in Victoria, Australia, the largest two being Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape and the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape. Within the latter, there are three Indigenous Protected Areas: the ...

s Vic), 2011 *

Neds Corner Station Neds Corner Station is a 30,000 ha nature reserve owned by the Trust for Nature. It is a former sheep grazing property on a pastoral lease abutting the Murray River and the Murray-Sunset National Park in the Mallee region of north-western ...

, Vic, 2010 * Central NSW (Dananbilla, Illunie and Koorawatha Nature Reserves NSW), 2010 * Bon Bon Station Reserve SA, 2010 * Witchelina Nature Reserve, SA, 2010 * Wet Tropics (Brooklyn, Cloudland and Melsonby (Gaarraay) Nature Refuges, Eubenngee Swamp, Hann Tableland and Melsonby (Gaarraay) National Parks, and Upper Bridge Creek Qld), 2010 * Tasmania (Egg Islands, Flat Rock, Lower Porter Hill and Porter Hill, Murphys Flat, Seventeen Mile Plain and Vale of Belvoir Reserves) Tas, 2010 * Darkwood Reserve, NSW, 2010 * North-western NSW and Southern Qld, 2009–10 *

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

Kadji Kadji Kadji Kadji Station, commonly referred to as Kadji Kadji, is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in Western Australia. Originally covering when founded, the station was resumed to roughly . Location It is situated about east ...

, Karara and Lochada Reserves, WA, 2009

New species

In 2017 Bush Blitz announced it had discovered 1196 new Australian species including 1139 new animals (including a fish, 17 slugs and snails, three scorpions and 92 bees) 27 new plants, 26 new lichens and 4 new fungi species. After the March 2017 Bush Blitz to Quinkan Country in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula the number of new species was put at 1200 after a fruitful expedition "likely to yield the greatest number of new species discoveries" of the 34 expeditions conducted to that time. The new discoveries included more than 50 new species of spiders in Quinkan Country west of Cooktown in northern Queensland, suggesting Cape York Peninsula could be a hotspot for spider diversity in Australia. A peacock spider discovered at Carnarvon Station in western Queensland, in 2014, one of six new species of peacock spider described in 2016 by Barbara Baehr and Robert Whyte of Queensland Museum, was named ''Maratus lincunxini'' in honour of Queensland Ballet artistic director

Li Cunxin Li Cunxin (born 26 January 1961) is a Chinese-Australian former ballet dancer turned stockbroker. He was the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet between 2012 and 2023.Queensland Ballet (2012)Li Cunxin returns to the stage as Queensl ...

, known for his book ''Mao's Last Dancer''.

TeachLive

Primary and secondary teachers from across Australia join Bush Blitz scientists in the field in BushBlitz TeachLive. Earthwatch Australia developed the educational program TeachLive in 2003. The Bush Blitz TeachLive Project involves the Australian Science Teachers Association. Participants teach 'live' back to their students via the dedicated Bush Blitz TeachLive website. Teachers interact with students via live web forums. They post daily highlights and photos, communicating via Skype and other online tools. Teaching resources as educational units for primary and secondary schools are provided.

References

{{Reflist

External links

TeachLive teacher Shae Nechwatal's blog from the Kimberley Bush Blitz
Environment of Australia Science and technology in Australia 2010 establishments in Australia Environmental history of Australia

Expeditions

New species

TeachLive

See also

References

External links