The natural environment is the source of sustenance, provides the backdrop to the daily life of the Island’s residents and underpins the tourist industry. It is a vital component of the great global web of life.
Friday 24th November is Bioblitz Day! Join naturalists and laypersons as we kick off the Great Southern Bioblitz 2023. Learn how to use iNaturalist from experts, get to know the local wildlife, meet like-minded local people and discover species new to science in the Island and surrounding waters. Local identity and naturalist Susan Prior has the details for Norfolk Island.
If you don’t know what a Bioblitz is, check our Bioblitz 2023 page for details.
See advertisement for details – every Friday from July 2023
A project to map the nearshore marine habitats around Norfolk Island under the Commonwealth Government’s Our Marine Parks – Round 2 Community Grants program has been completed. The on-Island project team comprised Margaret Christian, Rob Ryan and Mitchell Graham with external support and project management provided by Dr Kellie (Lorking) Pendoley of Pendoley Environmental PL (Perth). The initial phase of the project produced high-level habitat maps from satellite imagery, merged with high quality LIDAR mapping data (completed in 2021). These drafts were ground-truthed and amended in accordance with feedback from the community.
Fishermen and tour operators especially will find this marine mapping useful: Click on the link to the interactive dedicated page that has been established for this valuable project. A Lidar map of seabed bathymetry with marine mapping survey points is also available. There is a promotional video (26MB) that may encourage you to investigate further!
The Society was privileged to host Maxime Paradis (L) and Thaïs Bardisbanian from May 2022 to March 2023. The program, brought together knowledge around rodent control, both at Norfolk Island and in other places where controls have been undertaken. Now we have a better understanding of why some methods have been more successful than others. Reports of this work will appear on a dedicated page – bookmark that now for future reference. Thaïs and Maxime created a questionnaire about how Islanders manage rodent control. The results will appear in their final report, which is now (August 2023) being edited for publication. They go with our blessings.
The Australian Museum is mounting a substantial expedition in 2022-2024. More details on our dedicated page or the Museum’s own website.
Website last updated 13 August 2023