The backbone of the KBA Program is the volunteers
Tasmania trip report
By Amanda Lilleyman
The backbone of the KBA Program is the volunteers. The role of BirdLife Australia in coordinating the KBA program is to support and partner with relevant stakeholders within and surrounding KBAs. And so, part of my role in the KBA program is to engage and support volunteers across Australia. I was lucky to be able to visit and spend time with a range of volunteers in Tasmania/lutruwita in February 2023.
The purpose of the trip was to meet with volunteer members of BirdLife Tasmania to discuss the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) program, attend a Branch led Birdata workshop, and provide direct support as a national office staff member to the Branch.
I had such an adventure and many, many conversations. I travelled from Hobart up the east coast, then through the midlands to northern Tasmania, before travelling back to the south, all within the space of a week.
My transport for the week - the “Mystery Machine”.
>1000 km in a van in one week
During the KBA workshop hosted by BirdLife Tasmania, we discussed the KBA program in Tasmania, how it has been going, and how to prioritise KBAs for monitoring as there are currently 45 KBAs across the state, and many are hard to access for regular visits. I spent time with donors during a walk and talk session at the Waterworks Reserve in the South-east Tasmania KBA. I then had a productive discussion with the Friends of Orford Bird Sanctuary at the Orford KBA, and learnt about the conservation challenges of the site. I then travelled to Moulting Lagoon KBA and Douglas-Apsley KBA and experienced the beauty and expansiveness of these areas. I counted thousands of birds at the Tamar Wetlands KBA with one of BirdLife’s Distinguished Services Awardees. I was then lucky to visit another Distinguished Services Awardee and get a personal tour of the Rubicon Estuary KBA and the Three Sisters (Bass Strait) KBA, before getting up close to Little Penguins at the Lillico penguin colony. The biggest day of the trip was with the BirdLife Tasmania crew and a group of enthusiastic community members from the Central North Field Naturalists club at the Eugenana Arboretum, where volunteers ran a Birdata workshop and then bird walks around the area. I finished the trip with more conversations with some of BirdLife Tasmania’s amazing volunteers and came away feeling inspired by the considerable grassroots conservation work being done in the region.
It was a privilege to spend time with BirdLife Tasmania volunteers, donors, medallists, and BirdLife Fellows – thank you to all who hosted me, spent time talking, and welcoming me to your beautiful state.
Trip statistics
>1000 km travelled across Tasmania
55 people (including 2 BirdLife Fellows, 2 Distinguished Service awardees, 1 Serventy Medallist awardee, 1 Hobbs Medallist awardee) engaged on BirdLife Australia, KBAs, Birdata
43.25 hours of engagement with BirdLife Tasmania and local community groups
7 KBAs visited
9 Birdata surveys completed (standardised surveys: 2-ha, 20-min, 500 m area search, 5 km area search, shorebird count)
5.35 hours surveying birds
55 bird species recorded (including 5 Tasmanian endemics)
>1500 individual birds counted during standardised surveys
