Help us discover what vertebrates — from platypus to fish — are quietly living in our catchments, in partnership with EnviroDNA
What is the survey?
The King Island Landcare Group is surveying what vertebrates are living in King Island’s catchments. Not only platypus — anything with a backbone, from fish to deer to maybe a quoll, will show up in the water samples when analysed by the EnviroDNA lab.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the genetic material every animal sheds into the water around it — skin cells, scales, hair, mucus. Collecting and sequencing this DNA gives us a remarkably complete snapshot of which species are using a given creek, without ever having to see, trap, or disturb the animals themselves.
It is a powerful tool for a small island with big biodiversity questions, and it complements our long-running WaterWatch monitoring program.
How the survey works
From a litre of creek water to a complete species list, in three steps.
1. Sample
Trained volunteers collect water samples from selected creeks across the island, capturing genetic traces from passing fauna onto a fine filter.
2. Sequence
Filters travel to the EnviroDNA lab in Melbourne, where DNA is extracted, sequenced, and matched against reference libraries of Australian vertebrates.
3. Steward
Results return as a species-by-site map of King Island’s freshwater life, guiding our riparian, threatened-species, and pest-management work.
From King Island’s waterways
A few of the platypus encounters that inspired this project.
Close-up
Please donate here and support our citizen science eDNA survey.
Click Here To Donate
Your contribution funds sample kits, laboratory analysis by EnviroDNA, and the volunteer hours that keep the survey on the water. Every donation translates directly into more sites tested—and a clearer picture of the life moving through King Island’s catchments.
Donations are processed securely via King Island Landcare Group (KILG) PayPal. As a community-led organisation, every dollar donated directly to KILG stays on King Island and supports this project.
Please note: Donations made directly to King Island Landcare Group are not tax deductible.
If you require a tax-deductible receipt, you can instead donate through Tasmanian Landcare using the link below. Donations made via Tasmanian Landcare are tax deductible but support Landcare’s broader work across Tasmania rather than being allocated specifically to this project.
In partnership with EnviroDNA. This project is delivered by King Island Landcare Group as part of our Water Program.
Last Updated on 30 June 2026