Nature innovations: Harnessing AI for conservation

7 September 2024

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.”