Media Release, Exploring Biodiversity in a Northern Territory Bush Blitz, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, April 2025

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) and the Northern Territory Herbarium, together with the Jawoyn Association and Bush Blitz, are proud to co-host a nature discovery field program on Jawoyn Country, until Friday 11 April 2025.

Bush Blitz is a national program to explore, document and describe plants and animals across Australia. It brings together specialist scientists, Indigenous communities, rangers and landowners, teachers, students and museum professionals on field programs to explore the flora and fauna of special Australian landscapes.

Since the Bush Blitz program began in 2010, teams from around Australia have described more than 2,000 species new to western science and have added thousands of species records to national biodiversity maps. The work is crucial in understanding our unique Australian species as well as our cultural relationships to plants, animals and fungi. It goes a long way in helping protect our biodiversity for generations to come and making important linkages to Country, culture and conservation.

The team for this Jawoyn Country Bush Blitz includes Indigenous rangers and Jawoyn Traditional Owners, scientists, curators and technical staff from MAGNT and the NT Herbarium, Charles Darwin University (CDU), Western Australian Museum (WAM), the Australian Museum (AM), CSIRO and the University of Adelaide (UoA).

For two weeks teams work alongside each other in some remote and unique habitats from Nitmiluk National Park up into the adjacent stone country on Aboriginal lands. Through observation, imagery, collection and collaboration, known species will be documented with cultural and western scientific knowledge exchanged, and species unknown will be collected for further work in museums.

Up to seven different teams will cover a variety of life forms, from frogs and reptiles, fishes and crustaceans, plants to fungi, butterflies and dragonflies, ants and arachnids, and wasps and other insects. It is sure to be an exciting time!

Mid-way through the trip the teams take the time to share their work with the public, via a Community Day in Katherine on Saturday 5 April. This event is open to the public, from 10 am to 12 pm at the Katherine YMCA. It’s a great chance to come along and get to know the weird and wonderful creatures that make up life on our planet and meet different specialist scientists from all over the country.

Quote attributed to Adam Worrall, Director of MAGNT

“It is exciting to see the collaboration and coordination of these cultural and science experts so that we might learn more about the biodiversity in this extraordinary country.”

Quote attributed to Nicholas Cuff, Chief Botanist, NT Herbarium

“Bush Blitz provides the NT Herbarium with an unparalleled opportunity to work with the Jawoyn Traditional Owners and Ranger to gain a shared understanding of plant and fungi species living in an area of the NT not well known to western science”.

Quote attributed to the Jawoyn Association

“Jawoyn people have always shared, cared for, and worked our Country. That principle continues to guide everything we do. Hosting Bush Blitz on Jawoyn land is another way we can demonstrate our strong and ongoing connection to Country and culture — not just to visitors, but to the next generations of Jawoyn people too.

“This work is also about knowledge exchange. Our rangers and land managers are out on Country every day, drawing on cultural knowledge that has been passed down for thousands of years. Bringing that together with western science and biodiversity research allows us to strengthen what we know, identify what we’re protecting, and make informed decisions based on the best available data.

“The information collected through Bush Blitz will support the Jawoyn Association as we continue to deliver on our own vision for Country — one that is healthy, strong, and managed by our people. We look forward to using this knowledge to guide how we care for our land and to support opportunities for education, conservation, and sustainable development into the future.”

MAGNT will host a talk at the Discovery Centre on Saturday, 12 April, from 10 am to 12 pm for a special insight into their finding on Jawoyn country. Meet the scientists, explore collections, and learn about the incredible flora and fauna uncovered during the BushBlitz expedition. Jawoyn Country. Free and open to all ages book online at magnt.net.au/whatson

A selection of field images can be found HERE.

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For all media inquiries, please contact:

MAGNT Marketing and Communications Manager
Nicole Ogilvie | [email protected]

For Science enquiries, please contact:

MAGNT: Dr Kirsti Abbott, Head of Science |  [email protected]

NT Herbarium: Dr Nicholas Cuff, Chief Botanist | [email protected]