Thriving Tasmania

Team Name

Team 515

Team Members

Project Description

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION:
• One of the key reasons for the last year bushfire was climate change. It had caused damages to the natural environment, tourism areas and commercial activities. If such events happen more frequently, it will be catastrophic to Tasmanian natural assets. Therefore, it is vital to promote a sustainable society, protecting natural resources and saving this beautiful island for future generations.

• Government cultivates the wellbeing of its population and people can be shared by the value of sustainability and climate emergency. Currently, there is no integrated mobile application for the biodiversity in Tasmania. In addition, people spend more time on their phones, rather than reading books. Therefore, instead of printing more books, delivering biodiversity awareness via a mobile app is likely to reach a large number of audiences. People can learn the features and development of Tasmanian native plants, trees, animals and landforms at the comfort of their beds, or while they are going out to the natural environment.

PROJECT GOAL:
• The Thriving Tasmania app creates awareness in the local biodiversity of Tasmania through the past and present conditions and forecast its future, such as species extinction rate and geological fluctuations due to climate change, population expansion and urbanisation by using integrated data sources. We belive that if people understand nature, they will act more responsively.

TARGET BENEFICIAL GROUPS:
• Students & teachers
• Academics
• Residents
• Tourists
• Local farmers and the agriculture sector

FEATURES:
Some main features are:
• ID information for individual trees, animals, land formations (including water bodies). The ID information will specifically highlight how climate change affects the object of that ID page. At the end of every ID information page, there will be a link to ‘conservation note’
• Conservation note will explain how climate change is affecting the object in the ID information page. This will help raise awareness about the impact of climate change in local species.
• Timeline of a region that shows how the allocation of trees or animals change over time or how land formations establish and transform over time. To use the timeline, swipe left to see how that region was life in the past; swipe right to see how the region is predicted to change (should be up to 10 years). At any given point in the timeline, some basic climate information is provided such as total rainfall, the highest and lowest temperature in the period. If the timeline is for a type of tree in a region, at any point in time, the timeline will show if this tree is extinct at that time, same with the animals.
• Future estimation: The future period is predicted by combining spatial data from BoM such as air temperature, rainfall, wind, sunshine hours, solar exposure, cloud cover, evaporation and relative humidity; and biological/physical/chemical data of trees, animals and land formations in that area.
• Library: The app contains comprehensive lists of biodiversity data from wildlife researches such as the Atlas of Living Australia and Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment.

Additional features:
• Weather notification and hazard warning: the app will draw data from the Bureau of Meteorology to notify the users if weather is suitable for outdoor adventures. It can also warn the areas that are blocked by landslide or flood so users do not wander to those areas. Moreover, live data from BoM will also alert the users about sudden changes in the weather so they can make preparation.
• Story: Users can take photos of trees, animals and landforms and pin it to a specific location. They can add a description or ‘story’ about the photo and share on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Once a pin is made, other users can also see it from their mobile device. This can attract other users to go to that pin and see if they can find what is in the photo.

There are 4 ways to use the app:
1) Image recognition – you take a photo of a tree, animal, river or land formation. The app compares the photo with data from national parks and other wildlife agencies to identify what is in the photo.
The app then shows you all the ID information of what you have taken:
• example – if you take a photo of a tree: the app shows botanical information, wild ancestors, in some cases – how to grow one.
• to see how the allocation of that type of tree change overtime => tap on the link to the timeline page of that tree in that region.

2) Location search – pick a region on the map. The app would then show a drop-down box and ask you to choose from 3 categories: plants – animals – land formations. Once you select the category, the app will show the timeline of that category in that region over time. In the timeline, there will be a link to the ID formation page.

3) Nearby search – choose the nearby option on the starting screen, the app will use GPS to scan the area within 100 metres from you and show the list of trees, animals and landforms that can be seen within that area. You choose the object you want to learn more about and the app will lead you to the ID information page.

4) Dictionary search: on the starting page, choose trees, animals or landforms, the app will open the full list of all species or types of the chosen category. For instance, if you choose the tree category, the app will show all different kind of trees in that region. Similar to the nearby search, you then choose the specific type of tree you want to know about and it will lead you to the ID information page.

BENEFITS:
• By using the app, users are encouraged to go outdoor and enjoy nature. This promotes a healthy lifestyle, hence, less burden on the local health system.
• The app can be used for educational purpose. For example, students can use image recognition to identify their surrounding environment during a field trip => a more interactive way to learn biology.
• If for any reason, an image taken by a user contains a species that is supposed to be extinct, the app can alert local experts the location of the image to bring that species into conservational areas.
• By sharing stories and photos on social media, the app will share ID information of the trees or animals in the photos as well. This benefits people who do not know or use the app as they can also learn from the social media posts
• By educating people about nature, and the effect of global warming and climate change, the app encourages changes in people behaviours. They will be more socially aware and carefully consider the consequences of their actions on the environment. Some examples are purchasing less single-use plastic bags/cutlery/bottles; Donating to charities with environmental causes; recycling more and limiting energy consumption.
• The app uses live data from the Bureau of Meteorology, hence, it can detect if there are sudden changes in the elements that pose danger to any species (by comparison with species' biological characteristics). Experts will be alerted to take actions if necessary.

Data Story

How Does It Work?
• The Thriving Tasmania app has the most comprehensive lists of significant trees, unique plants, wildlife animals, land formations and water bodies in Tasmania and they are presented in a user-friendly mobile application.

• It is a convenient platform for presenting the significant trees information (location, coverage, status) and the wild animals feature through a map. Showing a timeline map to forecast the weather and review the past data to estimate the climate impact, such as the rate of extinction.

• There are four ways to use the app by image recognition, location search, nearby search, dictionary search. The app will show all the ID information, for instance, botanical information, wild ancestors and conservative guide.

Increasing Engagement
• Users will be raised their awareness of the natural environment and freeing the spirit to connect with the land. The app can be linked with social media such as Instagram and Facebook to increase engagement. Self-involvement will be enhanced by taking photos along walking in the national parks. They will get the road trip suggestion with the weather forecast notification from the app.