Educating and empowering Australians through a digital approach to biodiversity conservation

Abstract

Despite public support for conservation, Australian government policy responses have been insufficient for addressing the biodiversity crisis. This situation represents a disconnect between political decision-makers and the public. Digital interventions offer a promising tool for bridging this connection through education and political engagement at the constituency level. We present the conceptual foundations, design, and impact of Threatened Australians, a web-based application aimed at constituency-based awareness raising and facilitating political actions. Using a transdisciplinary approach, we curated nine data sets including species threats and the voting history of elected representatives to communicate the plight of 1717 species across 151 electoral districts. The app received 17,235 users across all electoral districts over a six-week period around the 2022 Australian federal election. We discuss the design intentions, impact, and lessons learned such as trade-offs in navigating data limitations and the benefits of following scientific frameworks. The app demonstrates a case study in augmenting conservation efforts with digital approaches to bridge the gap between public conservation sentiment and government policy.