Spatial Vision was contracted to create the Frog Census App for Melbourne Water in mid-2016, to harness the power of citizen science to digitize and streamline Melbourne Water’s Frog Census.

Melbourne Water’s Frog Census program was established in 2001. Previously, volunteers recorded frogs at their local waterway or wetland using various audio recording devices and then sent them to Melbourne Water via email. These submissions were then independently verified by consultants.

To streamline the process, and put data collection power into the hands of the public, we created the Frog Census app.

The app includes robust data recording features, allowing users to record not only the location of frogs within the Melbourne region, but also audio recordings of the frog callings and other useful information. This information is then made available to the public, benefiting management authorities, researchers, the Melbourne Water Frog Census program and students.

This information is used in waterway management and is also shared with DELWP Victorian Biodiversity Atlas and CSIRO Atlas of Living Australia.