Land Libraries delivers landmark private land biodiversity data
It’s one thing to appreciate the species you’re protecting through a conservation agreement. It’s another to have photographic and acoustic evidence and to know you’ve contributed to a significant state-wide biodiversity dataset.
Through the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust Land Libraries project, landholders have built an extraordinary picture of biodiversity on privately managed conservation areas.
Between mid-2024 to early 2026, conservation agreement-holders recorded about 22,000 sightings of more than 2,000 species, including 1,692 threatened species.
Of these, 13,500 verified species records have been uploaded to the NSW BioNet database, with a further 8,500 records scheduled for upload this year, ensuring the data directly supports biodiversity policy, planning and conservation management.
For more than 150 conservation agreement holders, the evidence collected through the Land Libraries program represents an extraordinary effort:
- more than 2 million motion‑camera images
- 25,000+ hours of acoustic recordings
- the equivalent of 100 years of voluntary monitoring effort
- monitoring across 13,307 hectares of private land
Participants shared thousands of verified species records via a mobile app, building individual species libraries linked to their conservation agreements and the collected data did deliver surprises, with many landholders confirming the presence of species previously only suspected as being protected by their conservation areas.
What the data means for private land conservation
Senior ecologist Joel Stibbard said the scale and quality of the data demonstrated what could be achieved when landholders, scientists and technology worked together.
“The involvement of landholders has been critical,” Joel said. “Their stewardship and passion for conservation makes this kind of large‑scale monitoring possible.”
Each BCT Landholder participating in the Land Libraries program receives a bespoke report with the overall results of their cohort, their personal results and how it might relate to management of their conservation agreement.
“And this dataset is extraordinary. It’s a treasure trove for understanding what species are out there and how they are using the landscape, particularly on private land, which has historically been under‑surveyed.”
Along with identifying species using motion cameras and sound recorders, the data has expanded knowledge about species distributions. For around 350 species, the confirmed “area of occupancy” has been increased through the data collected.
Land Libraries citizen science project awarded
The community‑led citizen science pilot was recognised with a NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) award in 2025, acknowledging its innovative approach to training landholders, loaning equipment and using a purpose‑built Land Libraries hub within a purpose-built mobile app.
Education Team Leader Alice McGrath said the latest results showed the program had grown well beyond a pilot.
“The project design works and the data proves it,” Alice said.
“Land Libraries has now delivered tens of thousands of verified records and we believe it’s one of the richest private land biodiversity datasets ever assembled in NSW.”
She said the value of the program goes well beyond data collection.
“As data continues to flow into BioNet and landholder communities grow stronger, Land Libraries is proving to be more than a pilot. It’s also a model for community‑led conservation across the state.
“It’s about giving landholders real insight into the incredible biodiversity they’re supporting and empowering them with the skills, confidence and motivation to continue monitoring over the long term.
“For many participants, this was their first baseline survey for fauna. Now they have the tools, the knowledge and the motivation to keep going.”