Governments of all persuasions sing the praise of Citizen Science. Volunteers who establish native wildlife monitoring projects are common and are contributing many thousand of hours research to native animal conservation.

And there are people in the community who are so motivated by the potential loss of native species that they put together projects to monitor and inform the science behind strategies to save threatened species from extinction.

However, the Naphine government has applied a wounding blow to Citizen Science in Victoria. The LNP government is charging native animal monitoring Citizen Science projects a fee of $ 500 to have an ethics committee decide if the project is acceptable.

However, the ethic committee request is not the problem, it’s the fee of $ 500. It’s expected the $ 500 fee will see Citizen Science projects shut down. Citizen Science participants already pay for equipment, nets, petrol and spend many days away from home to gather information which helps governments conserve native wildlife. Sadly, the Victorian State Government is imposing another level of administration and cost to individuals.

On the other hand, if you like to kill native ducks, maybe even leave them wounded and dying in a cold wetland, you only pay of fee of $ 159. If you are between 12 and 17 years of age, it’s free.

Malcolm Brown can be contacted at:  seawish@aapt.net.au

Citizen Science volunteer safely handling a native bird will now be charged $ 500 for ethics committee approval

Duck hunters who kill native wildlife like this Pacific Black Duck only pay $ 159 for the pleasure.