A new community-based environmental research initiative is helping to monitor long term vegetation and landscape change on our coast.
The Fluker Post Research program, which involves monitoring change on selected sites through photography, has been established by the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CCMA) and Victoria University .
Participants are being invited to submit photos taken from the post to track how a project site changes over time.
CCMA coastal projects officer Jannes Demetrious said it is a great way for the community, and even those just passing by a site, to take part in an important environmental project.
“All you need to do is take a photo and email it in. Photos can be taken with a digital camera and emailed later or with a Smartphone and emailed directly using the barcode scanner QR code on the post,” he said.
The posts have been installed for several months and already the project has received a positive response.
“We were expecting one or two photos a month but so far we have received about 20-25 photos from the posts a month,” said Mr. Demetrious
The posts are named after Victoria University’s Dr Martin Fluker who developed the idea to improve the accuracy of photo point monitoring.
Changes to vegetation are being monitored whilst rehabilitation work is undertaken on the sites and will continue for up to 5-10 years.
Mr Demetrious said this is the first use of these posts to monitor vegetation condition.
“We hope to see a decrease in weedy vegetation and we can document any erosion if it’s occurring,” he said.
There are currently five posts located on Great Ocean Road Coast Committee managed areas and two more installed on Surf Coast Shire managed areas.
Posts are located at Torquay’s Rocky Point and Yellow Bluff, Aireys Inlet along Painkalac Creek and near the lighthouse, Anglesea’s Fairylands and along Anglesea River and along Lorne Point.
The initiative is funded through the CCMA’s Coastal Tender program, funded by the Australian Government which has funded numerous environmental projects across the region.
The photos can be viewed on the CCMA Facebook page and photos can be submitted to cmmaflukerpost@gmail.com.
This story featured in the the Surf Coast Times Green the Coast column.
Media Releases:
Read the full media release from CCMA here.
This media release from Victoria University (VU) explains the use of Fluker Posts on the Great Ocean Walk between Blanket Bay and Johanna Beach near Apollo Bay.
More information on Fluker Posts:
Visit the Fluker Post Research Project page on Facebook here.
Great Ocean Road Coast Committee Blog 