Arrive as a tourist, leave as a Scientist
Visiting Kangaroo Island can be more than just a vacation – while you’re exploring, why not lend a hand and be part of ongoing conservation efforts to keep the Island’s environment thriving?
Passport to Recovery is a collection of projects on the Island focusing on conservation and data collection to positively boost its flora and fauna. Download the app, and with every activity completed, you will be rewarded with points that can be redeemed for discounts at local businesses.
Support conservation efforts
From collecting dirt from your boots, spotting koalas to monitor their movements and behaviour, or the possibility to snorkel on a newly installed native shellfish reef, this year Citizen Science will have 12 projects on the Passport to Recovery app by the end of 2024.
A snapshot of Passport to Recovery Projects
Dirty Boots
A highly infectious plant root pathogen called Phytophthora cinnamomi (Pc) is spreading across the island and causing die-back of native vegetation communities.
Pc is a water mould that enters the roots of plants, preventing the plant from taking up nutrients and is thought to be transported around from place to place on the muddy tyres and dirty boots of people who drive and walk on rural properties and bushland areas.
How you can help:
Take photographs of grass trees showing evidence of dieback or take soil samples from your shoes or your bike tyres to help monitor the spread or reduction in Pc over time.
Koala Compass
Koalas are an iconic Australian species that have recently been classified as endangered in Eastern Australia. The Kangaroo Island koala population was also dramatically impacted by the Black Summer bushfires.
With the Kangaroo Island koala population dramatically impacted by the Black Summer bushfires, monitoring the behaviour and location of these beautiful animals will help the Citizen Science team to discover how they are coping in their changed environment.
How you can help:
Take photographs of koalas you spot on Kangaroo Island to help monitor movements and behaviours. Observe what the koala is doing and look out for ones with tags or collars to support the Citizen Science tracking program.
Smart Nest
Native bees are important pollinators just like the European honeybee. Unlike honeybees, most native bees do not live in hives, but instead make their nests in holes in wood or in the ground.
Australia has over 1600 species of native bees. With many more species unknown to science. SmartNest helps track native bee activity using lasers.
How you can help:
You can help to monitor bee activity at a SmartNest located on the Island hosted by a project partner.
Reef Rewind
Shellfish reefs provide a complex habitat for many animals and filter water to improve coastal water quality. However, we have lost most of our shellfish reefs in South Australia due to overfishing and harvesting.
Kangaroo Island will be home to the first native shellfish reef for monitoring by you, the community.
How you can help:
Snorkelling on the restoration reef and recording your observations will help to monitor shellfish growth and recruitment of this reef over time.
Be involved
Download the Passport to Recovery app from Apple and Google Play Stores. Collect your Passport to Recovery physical passport at the SeaLink terminal to learn more about the projects and how you can get involved.
Visit Passport to Recovery website for more information on the Citizen Science Projects.
You can be involved as a Citizen Scientist before and after your vacation
Flinders University are conducting surveys with Passport to Recovery participants to better understand the motivations of tourists who participate in these type of citizen science activities. The surveys allow us to collect data to guide improvement of future citizen science projects.
Before participating in the project, please fill out our pre-participation survey.
After participating, please fill out this post-participation survey
