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Project start date: 01/03/2023
Project end date: 30/09/2026
NESP funding: $333,000 (GST-exclusive)

National parks and other protected areas are essential to solve the species-extinction crisis and restore biodiversity and resilient landscapes. This project is addressing urgent questions for the management of Commonwealth national parks and provide tools and case studies to benefit research users in other places.

Australia has committed to protecting 30% of its lands and seas by 2030. Making sure our existing protected areas, including national parks, are resilient will play a vital role in meeting our global commitments to protecting biodiversity.

Commonwealth national parks include World Heritage areas, Ramsar sites and priority places under the Australian Government’s Threatened species action plan 2022–2032. To make sure our national parks are resilient into the future, we need strategic prioritisation of management activities, informed by rigorous monitoring and evaluation, targeted research on critical gaps in our knowledge about species and systems, and development and testing of new technologies and methods for monitoring and management.

This project is supporting improved management across 3 Commonwealth national parks. It is developing fit-for-purpose monitoring programs, testing new technologies and providing evidence to guide long-term conservation decisions.

Developing an integrated monitoring program for fauna within Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park

This report presents a culturally grounded biodiversity monitoring framework co-developed with Aṉangu and Parks Australia. It draws on more than 3 decades of fauna-monitoring data and trials new approaches using camera traps and acoustic recorders.

Read the report

Key research areas

To address these challenges and enhance the resilience of Australia’s national parks, this project is:

  • developing an integrated monitoring program for desert plants and animals in Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park
  • developing acoustic monitoring methods to support species recovery and conservation in Christmas Island National Park
  • informing the strategic management direction of an island restoration program in Norfolk Island National Park.

Pathway to impact

This project will strengthen the resilience of Australia’s national parks by:

  • improving how parks are monitored and managed through fit-for-purpose monitoring programs that detect change and guide on-ground action
  • turning innovation into practice by testing and applying tools such as acoustic monitoring and decision-analysis to support threatened species recovery
  • shaping better long-term decisions by providing clear, evidence-based guidance for park managers that can be applied across Australia’s protected areas.

Map showing the location of 3 national parks
This project is working across 3 Commonwealth national parks. Image: Resilient Landscapes Hub.

  • One project component will develop a monitoring program for flora and fauna at Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. Photo: Patch Clapp.
  • The Christmas Island white-eye is endemic to the forests of Christmas Island. Photo: Mark Lethlean.
  • The threatened Kermadec petrel makes its home on Phillip Island, part of Norfolk Island National Park. Photo: .
  • This project is working across 3 Commonwealth national parks. Image: Resilient Landscapes Hub.

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