THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
MEDIA RELEASE
Saturday 7 September 2024
Nature innovations: Harnessing AI for conservation
Cutting-edge technologies to better protect threatened plants and animals are rolling out across Australia under the new $11.4 million Threat Innovation Grants program.
Researchers and ecologists have teamed up on 10 new projects to take existing conservation tools and technologies to the next level.
Many of them harness artificial intelligence to help land managers better tackle invasive animals, weeds and diseases to protect threatened species.
Announced today on Threatened Species Day, the Albanese Government-funded projects include:
- $1.5 million for air sampling devices that detect invasive myrtle rust spores across nine botanical gardens – an early warning system to better protect gums, paperbarks, lillypillies
- $707,000 to use drones and AI-powered image processing to better detect and map invasive weeds across multiple states
- $1.3 million to train detector dogs to identify the dieback-causing plant disease Phytophthora, which threatens many native plants, in Tasmania, NSW and Western Australia
- $188,000 to train AI-based Felixer traps to identify Tasmanian devils so they’re not treated as targets.
Through these projects, conservationists and communities will be able to better manage threats to our native plants and animals on a large scale and in remote places.
This $11.4 million Saving Native Species Threat Innovations program is just one part of the Government’s $550 million investment to protect native species and tackle invasive pests. It comes after the Government this week announced a $60 million investment in 55 projects to tackle feral cats.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek:
“The threats to our precious native plants and animals are evolving – and that means our solutions have to, as well.
“We all need to work together to find new and innovative solutions to stay ahead in the fight to protect our threatened species and biodiversity.
“That’s what makes the new $11.4 million Threat Innovation Grant so important. Researchers and ecologists have teamed up to roll out new technologies, methods and tools that experts and land managers can deploy on a large scale.”
ENDS
REPORTABLE BACKGROUND
Threat Innovation Grant projects
|
Organisation |
Description |
Location |
Investment |
|
DIEBACK WORKING GROUP INC |
Plants across Australia are dying from an incurable soil pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi. Making sure we do not spread this to new sites is critical. An innovative and scientifically validated method to eliminate the pathogen from material used in road building and other infrastructure projects will be rolled out. |
WA |
$2,432,974 |
|
INVASIVE ANIMALS LTD |
Developing AI-powered drones with cameras to detect and map weeds, which are usually hard to detect. |
NSW, ACT, Vic, SA |
$707,416 |
|
CRADLE COAST AUTHORITY |
Felixer grooming traps target feral cats by using range-finding sensors and AI processing of camera images. This project will train the AI to recognise Tasmanian devils so that they are not identified as targets. It could be used on mainland Tasmania and opens up another tool to manage feral cats in the habitats of other threatened species.
|
Tas |
$188,914 |
|
DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES AND REGIONS (SA) |
Myrtle rust is a devastating plant pathogen spread by sports that impacts gums, paperbarks, lillypillies and other myrtaceae. With no known cure, early detection and treatment is important. This project aims to install air sampling devices which can detect myrtle rust spores across nine botanical gardens in every state/territory of Australia - an early warning system on the airborne movement of myrtle rust. |
National |
$1,581,856 |
|
BUSH HERITAGE AUSTRALIA Artificial odds: Using AI to achieve effective threat mitigation |
AI processing of camera images is a quick and reliable way to detect feral cats and other animals. This project links AI to three new feral animal management devices: 1. A new trap that will only close when it detects a feral animal, such as a cat or a red fox. 2. A new trap called the Humane Animal Net Device (HAND). Once the AI recognises a feral cat, it catches it in a large net and sends an alert to the land manager. 3. A new feral cat deterrent device called the Cat Audio Deterrent (CAD). It uses AI to detect feral cats and directs a very high-pitched sound to deter feral cats and creates a virtual fence to keep predators away. |
Qld, NSW, Vic, NT, and Christmas Island |
$1,675,380 |
|
BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA |
Noisy miners are an overabundant bird species that dominates habitat and chases other small birds away. This project aims to provide a new tailored guide for land holders, local and regional councils and NRM groups specific to their area to manage and reduce the impact of noisy miners on threatened woodland birds. |
ACT, Vic, NSW |
$460,054 |
|
THYLATION R&D PTY LTD
|
This project aims to develop six innovative tools to manage invasive animals using advanced AI wildlife camera monitoring: 1. To detect cane toads and feral cats, while removing human images. 2. AI analysis by remote cameras to let in native animals and keep out invasive pests. 3. AI analysis by remote cameras around rare bird nests to detect and deter predators (sprays, noise or lights). 4. AI analysis by remote cameras to detect predators approaching nest boxes, enabling a door to close. 5. AI detection of deer in remote areas will activate a deer deterrent at frog breeding pools. 6. Remote Felixer triggering to reduce non-target firings. |
ACT, NSW, Qld, Vic, SA, Tas, WA |
$2,115,000 |
|
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY |
This project aims to add an innovation to AI on wildlife detection cameras that can detect reptiles and invertebrates. These will be deployed initially on Christmas Island (CI) and Cocos (Keeling) Island to detect invasive species such as the Asian wolf snake and giant centipede and threatened species such as the CI blue-tailed skink and Lister's gecko and provide real time alerts.
|
Vic, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Island |
$599,830 |
|
INVASIVE ANIMALS LTD |
Trapped feral cats and foxes can often be in traps for a long time while they are transported for euthanasia. This project will increase the range of humane euthanasia tools available.
|
NSW, Vic |
$232,375 |
|
DEPARTMENT OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND ATTRACTIONS (WA) |
Plants across Australia are dying from an incurable soil pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi. This project aims to train four new detector dogs to sniff out this plant pathogen for accurate, fast diagnostics.
|
Tas, NSW, WA |
$1,374,485 |
