Pest surveillance activities for schools

Page last updated: Tuesday, 2 November 2021 - 1:42pm

Please note: This content may be out of date and is currently under review.

MyPestGuide™ Reporter provides a great opportunity for teachers and their students to take the class outside and undertake their own pest and organism surveillance.

This outdoor-based activity encourages schools teachers, students, and parents to report and learn about organisms they find in their local environment. Learn about how biosecurity protects our industries and environment.

Correlating organisms with the locations where these are found can give information on their distribution, invasiveness and presence or absence status, as well as on their relationship with their habitat and about environmental health.

General surveillance objectives

Take action using one or more of the activities found at the Pests surveillance activities page.

1. Collect data from different habitats

  • Record as many species as possible from as many habitats as possible.
  • Record as many species from a local area.
  • Collect and prepare specimens for identification

2. Build a reporting community

  • Join forces with another school covering a wider area and range of habitats.
  • Motivate your shire and local clubs to participate with your school.

3. Target biosecurity threats

  • Target species that threaten the environment.
  • Research a pest that poses a biosecurity risk to Australia.

How to report

Grab a mobile phone or camera and look in your pantry, backyard, local park or favourite fishing hole and report your findings to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) using MyPestGuide™ Reporter or the community portal.

A DPIRD expert will identify the reported organism and respond back to you via your device and by email. Individual reports can be viewed by the shared community and all personal information is kept confidential.

Reporting organisms will help you to learn about pests and how these can affect us; about the importance of biosecurity to protect our agriculture and food industries, the environment, and our lifestyle.

 

Contact information

Laura Fagan
+61 (0)8 9368 3212