HAMILTON Field Naturalists Club will tomorrow welcome Nature Glenelg Trust ecologist, Dr Greg Kerr to present on developing and implementing a citizen science program for carbon credit projects in Ethiopia and extension to biodiversity monitoring in Australia.

Greg will outline a citizen science project he developed for World Vision Australia which was implemented in Ethiopia with award-winning environmental, social and economic outcomes.

World Vision is involved in a range of community-based carbon credit reforestation and afforestation projects around the world, which as part of their compliance regime, require monitoring and reporting on impacts to local biodiversity over a project-life of 30-50 years.

They needed a program that addressed practicalities of monitoring in a low-budget manner in tropical regions with high, but poorly understood biodiversity, and limited knowledge while providing a scientifically valid outcome.

Greg will show how this citizen science-based model was implemented in Ethiopia and will also outline a long-term citizen science program he is developing across Western Victoria to help understand the current threats to the region’s biodiversity.

Members of the public are welcome to attend this special meeting on Thursday, May 18 at HIRL starting at 7.30pm.