What is Walpole hiding?

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What is Walpole hiding?

Over 200 people converged on Walpole at the end of September, with one common goal – to capture a snapshot of the plant and animal life hidden in the nooks and crannies of the Walpole Wilderness Area, the only gazetted wilderness in Western Australia.

And the bush did not disappoint!

This area is recognised for its outstanding beauty, highly specialised habitats, unique species and incredible biodiversity, but it has traditionally not been well studied.

The Walpole Bioblitz is a citizen science event coordinated by the Walpole Nornalup National Park Association (WNNPA), which records information on rare, common and even new species.

This information can be used to help improve understanding and long-term management of the area.

Our Biologic team has been actively involved in organising and supporting the Bioblitz since it started in 2021.

We’ve led various activities, shared our scientific knowledge with the community, and provided safety and technical equipment to help ensure a safe and enjoyable event for everyone.

Our team of ecologists, botanists, zoologists, geneticists, and geologists brings a wealth of scientific expertise to the Bioblitz, ensuring we don’t just scratch the surface, but truly dig deep!

Biologic’s Managing Director, Brad Durrant, said it was important to his team to be involved.
“This is why the Biologic team love to support something like this… both for the data we’ll generate, but also because they understand that citizen science is so important. The more the general community understand about our natural environment, the better protected it is.”

Image: The Biologic team who formed part of the over 200 participants at the 2024 Walpole Bioblitz

The 2024 event is only the fourth since the Walpole Bioblitz inception and the number of people involved has almost doubled.

And they really got stuck in, with more than 4800 observations uploaded so far across more than 640 different species observed.

Amazing fauna and crowd-pleasers like the red-winged fairy wren, echidna, dugite, quokka, scorpions… and this little mite.

Image: Red Velvet Mites from the Family Trombidiidae

Flora included fringe lily, granny bonnets, silky blue orchid and star moss.

Image: Fringe Lily

How does a Bioblitz work?
Groups of up to 12 people conducted surveys for around 3 hours each morning and afternoon of the weekend, uploading images of species to the iNaturalist app for identification. These are then collated into the Atlas of Living Australia.

Biologic team member, Damon Guerinoni said it was a great weekend.
“I love working for a company that supports its staff to make a difference to our natural world, beyond our day job.”

How do you pick a highlight? Visit iNaturalist to see all 643 species spotted on the weekend.

Images: Various photos of the Biologic team taking part in the Walpole Bioblitz

Photography Credits: Damon Guerinoni, Brad Durrant.