Climbers as citizen scientists: surveying skinks on a sky island

Vanessa’s climbing skills have taken her to some usual places, and not just as a climber—she’s used her skills to gather conservation data from some hard-to-reach places. In 2017, she climbed Balls Pyramid as a citizen scientist with the Australian Museum to survey and capture stick insects. This year, on a climbing trip to Kaputar National Park, she was on the lookout for critically endangered rock skinks.  

I’m laying on top of Corrunbral Borawah, a rocky peak also known as the Governor, in Kaputar National Park with my right eye pressed almost to the ground. My phone in my hand, as I try to see into a finger-sized crack. A reptilian eye stares back at me and I slowly back off, trying to lure the large skink towards the patch of sun it was just enjoying. 

It emerges a little, enough for me to snap a picture with sufficient detail to identify whether it is a critically endangered Kaputar rock skink (Egernia roomi), a more common

White’s skink, or a spiky tailed Cunningham skink. I move back a few more metres and grab my camera with a zoom, hoping to capture a full body shot. 

We have driven the six hours north-west from Newcastle to go climbing, but have already spent an hour walking the 15 minute approach, photographing every reptile we can find. After another five minutes, I give up and am moving to our abseil rope, when I spot a White’s skink. It is basking happily, not at all perturbed by our nearby activity. 

I take a few snaps of it and jot a field note, before I abseil down to do Acid Rain (18), a slightly friable affair that is meant to be our warm up, but suboptimal rock with a loose block to avoid slows our progress and provides enough excitement for the day. We return to the nearby Bark Hut Campground to log our lizard pictures and sit out a storm. 

Kaputar is renowned as a biodiversity hotspot as in effect the region is a sky island—the Nandewar range, formed around 20 million years ago by volcanic activity, rises to 1600m from the surrounding plains. It has endemic species, seen nowhere else, including its famous pink slug (Triboniophorus sp Nov ‘Kaputar’) and the Kaputar Daisy (Coronidium kaputaricum). 

It’s the Wednesday before Easter 2023, and over the next few days we are joined by several other teams of climbers from Newcastle, who all spend some time out from climbing trying to capture lizard photos on their phone cameras. There’s 11 of us, spread out in different areas in Kaputar National Park. We convene at Euglah Rock, one of the area’s spectacular volcanic formations, the day after the storm. It’s cold and good conditions for climbing, but the summit plateau is wet and reptile activity is down. 

Whilst sending classics such as Yummikins (17), A Bridge Over Troubled Waters (16), Burning Spear (19) and Malice Through the Looking Glass (20), we take some time to sit in stillness and watch for reptiles. Between us, we manage to record at least half a dozen lizards. 

By the end of the Easter long weekend, the teams have surveyed Mount Kaputar, Lindsay Rock Tops, Euglah summit, Lairds Lookout, the Governor, Yulludinida and their approaches, and the Bundubulla track to Eckfords lookout. A team from University of New England continues looking the following weekend. All up 56 individual photos are logged, with 58 lizards in them. It seems that skinks can be quite family orientated, and it’s not infrequent to find skinks from the same family group sheltering together. 

Climbers as conservationists

Why, you may ask, should climbers be doing such an activity? From a personal perspective, immersion in nature and appreciation and respect for the natural environment is integral to my enjoyment of rock climbing. Watching birds whilst on belay, looking at plants on the approach,sitting by a deep calm pool on a riverbank in the evening looking for platypus, are as much a part of the day as climbing. 

Smelling the callitris pines, hearing wind through the eucalypts and the warble of the currawongs, or watching seasonal change and the regeneration after fire, are all part of being in this landscape. Touching rock, unlocking the intricacies of holds and movement, following volcanic dykes, and imagining a different age when molten basalt and trachyte flowed and shaped the topography of the land. Always taking in the views in the amazing places that climbing takes us to. 

As climbers we can get to spend hours in a small and special area. We can offer much in understanding these areas and help preserve them. Being able to be still in nature and take in the minutiae is a gift that sometimes in the rush to send and to tick we don’t always appreciate. 

As head of the access and stewardship organisation ACANSW (Australian Climbing Association NSW) there is another reason for being aware of what is in the natural world around us, and that is the potential for inadvertent harm. In the case of the Kaputar rock skink and other reptiles, such as the broad head snake, this could occur if climbers build cairns and move rocks. 

Reading the forewords to guidebooks and gaining knowledge about flora, fauna and cultural heritage in the area you are to climb is important. Climbing was banned in Kaputar for a time in the 1980s due to concern about climbers’ potential impacts on the Kaputar daisy which grows on escarpments, particularly around the Governor. 

Rather than be part of the problem, an educated climber can be a steward for the environment and help educate others. This goes for other engagements that climbers can undertake: whether it be learning about weeds and doing bush regeneration, helping out with monitoring rare species like stick insects, rock wallabies or dwarf mountain pines, or looking out for peregrine falcons and avoiding those areas during nesting season. 

Because climbers hang out with other climbers, we often don’t realise how good we are at moving on uneven, steep ground, treading lightly and assessing cliff safety. Climber agility is readily noticeable when you join volunteer activities that involve the general community, and the amount of work that can be done by fit and agile volunteers is much appreciated. In my home area, the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, climbers have proven very useful working in volunteer programmes with rock wallaby predator monitoring and helping weed bitou bush and lantana on steep slopes safely. 

In addition, climbers spend time in environments that can’t readily be accessed and so we can help record the natural world in these areas, through citizen science. Cliff tops only accessible through technical climbs are largely undisturbed by humans and—more importantly—feral animals. Goats, deer and pigs are creating havoc across outback NSW, so observations from such protected areas, or sky islands, are valuable. We need to ensure we do not introduce weeds or pathogens such as phytophthora when we visit. But with enquiring minds and phone cameras we can also help document what we find. 

Citizen science

The Australian Citizen Science Association defines citizen science as something that “involves public participation and collaboration in scientific research with the aim to increase scientific knowledge”. Climbers are in a perfect position to help document observations in the natural world. Technology has made recording images and sounds easier than it has ever been. 

For the Kaputar skink citizen science project, we used iNaturalist under the guidance of Jodi Rowley, a scientist with the Australian Museum. I had contacted Jodi after reading an article by her in The Conversation about the lizard. I was sure I had seen these lizards on Lindesay Rock Tops, and could appreciate that it was something climbers should have an awareness of. It turned out, I was right—all up, the teams captured photos of 15 endangered Kaputar skinks, as well as nine other species of lizard. We also saw a lot of damage to habitat by feral pigs and goats. 

We mentioned the project to the local rangers who were around at Easter, but as we were not collecting lizards or moving rocks, or going anywhere we otherwise wouldn’t get to, there were no forms to fill out or permits to obtain. This is a very marked difference to the permissions needed to collect fauna or flora. 

Many programmes exist such as Frog ID, iNaturalist or cyber tracker that can help capture sound recordings or photographs with date stamped global positioning. These communities are supported by enthusiasts and experts and tentative identifications will be confirmed or corrected, which is a great way to learn about plants and animals.

There is always the possibility that your local cliff or access track, local bush reserve or even back yard has the potential to host rare or even undiscovered plants and animals. It just takes a curious, inquiring mind and a reminder to tread lightly.

Get involved

The “Roomi project-Reptile observations on mountain islands” is still available on iNaturalist and can be added to. You need to become a member of the iNaturalist community and upload images. Your user ID and photos can be linked to the project. 

It would be useful to create similar projects for other difficult to access summits such as Belougery Spire, Crater Bluff or Tonduron in the Warrumbungles and having someone with the time, energy and appropriate background to be a coordinator for climber citizen science projects would be ideal. [Contact Vanessa Wills at president.nsw@climb.org.au and if you are really keen and want to administer this project, or start up a new one.] 

Another great way to get involved with similar projects is to attend crag care days, or if these aren’t convenient, joining scheduled land care events- possibly near climbing destinations. You will be bound to meet a host of interesting people that tend to have a wealth of knowledge about flora and fauna. For instance, Dune Care at South West Rocks or Friends of Tomaree National Park hold regular bush regeneration events including for a few hours on a weekend at least monthly, and could easily be tied in with a climbing trip. 

Councils and the NPWS have volunteer portals where you can see what opportunities are available. For instance, in addition to the coast care events above, there are opportunities to help monitor rock wallaby predators in several national parks, or regular community clean ups and replantings planned for the new Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. 

Thanks to Adam, Dave G, Mel, Kalani, Kemeko, Jase, Elsa, Ben, Dave S, Kitty, Andrew.

Kaputar skink fact file

• The Kaputar Skink (Egernia roomi) has recently been added to NSW Threatened Species list. 
• It was formally described in scientific literature as a separate species of skink in 2019. 
• It is known to exist only across a 30 km square area of the Nandewar range, east of Narrabri, but within that area it is only found in the fragmented rocky outcrops above 1,200m. This includes the Governor, Mt Kaputar and Lindesay Rock Tops.
• It is a dark brown skink up to 12 cm long with orange-hued underbelly. 
• Removal or disturbance of bush rock or disturbance or trampling of vegetation of the cliff top environment leads to loss of habitat.