Discover nature

Kingston’s open space volunteers and citizen scientists are dedicated to protecting our biodiversity and identifying and preserving our beautiful flora and fauna.

There are many ways you can get involved and make a positive impact in your local environment.

Become a volunteer

Volunteer groups hold several events across Kingston reserves and foreshores.

Working bees take place at the following locations, generally on a morning for 2 hours.

Find out more about the working bees near you.

Register your interest

Become a citizen scientist

Citizen science involves the community contributing to scientific research to increase knowledge about biodiversity. People of all ages and abilities can participate in a range of citizen science projects by submitting observations of nature using smartphones.

Kingston's biodiversity reflects the diversity, quality and connectedness of the natural habitats found in our local area, so the more we can identify and record our biodiversity, the better we can protect and improve the habitats that support it.

We encourage you to become a 'citizen scientist' and discover nature in Kingston! You can record your observations of animals and plants using the iNaturalist platform.

Every observation of nature you record within Kingston using iNaturalist will appear in the iNaturalist biodiversity log.

We also participate in several citizen science initiatives, including the City Nature Challenge, Biodiversity Month, and the Great Southern BioBlitz, which encourage people to discover the nature near where they live and record their observations within a certain timeframe.

How to record observations

Download iNaturalist

To get started, download the free iNaturalist app (from Google Play or App Store) onto your smartphone and create your account.

These resources will help you download the iNaturalist App and make your first observation:

Nature challenges

City Nature Challenge

The City Nature Challenge is an international event held on iNaturalist that motivates people around the world to document the biodiversity in their own cities.

Month: Annually in April
Date: 4 days (usually towards the end of April)

Kingston collaborates in this friendly competition to increase our knowledge of our natural ecosystems with the help of local citizen scientists.

For more information, visit City Nature Challenge.

Biodiversity Month (Biodiversity Blitz)

Biodiversity Month acknowledges, appreciates and increases our knowledge of our unique biodiversity here in Kingston.

Month: Annually in September
Date: 1 to 30 September

For more information and to get involved in this year's event, visit Biodiversity Month.

During Biodiversity Month, we encourage you to become a local citizen scientist and participate in the Biodiversity Blitz. The Biodiversity Blitz is a friendly competition between participating councils to record the most species in their area. We encourage you to contribute to our ongoing knowledge of the natural world.

View Kingston's Biodiversity Blitz project page.

View the Biodiversity Blitz competition page.

Great Southern BioBlitz

The Great Southern BioBlitz is an event throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Kingston partners with our neighbouring councils to participate as 'Greater Melbourne'.

Month: Annually in spring
Date: 20 to 23 September

During this challenge, in partnership with our neighbouring councils, we log as many species as we can to highlight the immense biodiversity across Kingston and Greater Melbourne. By doing so, we are contributing to biodiversity research across the entire Southern Hemisphere!

View Kingston's Great Southern BioBlitz project page.

View the Greater Melbourne Great Southern BioBlitz project page.

Aussie Bird Count

The Aussie Bird count is a fun and easy way to help BirdLife Australia collect valuable data while you get to learn some of your local species.

Month: Annually in October
Date: 14 to 20 October

Participating in the Aussie Bird Count is as simple as downloading the Aussie Bird Count app, spending 20 minutes in your backyard or favourite outdoor space, counting the birds you see and adding them to the app! The app has a handy “bird finder” tool built in to help you identify any birds that you are unsure of.

For more information, visit Aussie Bird Count.

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