Community BioBlitz Uncovers Local Wildlife at Frank Smith Park

As a belated celebration of World Environment Day, Coromandel Valley Primary School hosted a community BioBlitz at Frank Smith Park on Friday 12 June, bringing together students, families, and local environmental experts to explore and document the area's biodiversity.

The weekend-long citizen science event began with a one-hour guided walk through the park on Friday afternoon. Around 30 students and family members joined local experts from Friends of Frank Smith Park, Orchid Watch, Save Our Wildlife Foundation, FrogWatch SA, the City of Onkaparinga, and a range of citizen science, entomology and biodiversity specialists.

Participants worked together to search for plants, insects, birds, frogs and other wildlife, learning from the experts while recording their discoveries using the iNaturalist app. During the Friday afternoon walk alone, more than 65 observations were logged. By the end of the weekend, the community had contributed an impressive 298 observations. Highlights included slugs, snails, fungi and a tawny frogmouth.

By sharing photos and wildlife records through iNaturalist, participants are contributing valuable research-quality data that supports biodiversity monitoring and connects local observations to a global network of citizen scientists.

The BioBlitz provided a fantastic opportunity for families to spend time outdoors, discover the wildlife living in their local area, and learn how everyone can contribute to environmental research.

A special thank you goes to Sarah from Coromandel Valley Primary School for organising the event and demonstrating how citizen science can bring communities together to connect with nature, learn about local biodiversity, and make a meaningful contribution to conservation.