Watch on Nature

Watch on Nature is a free, easy-to-use web app that empowers anyone to detect and report deforestation.

With just a few clicks, you can:

• Track forest loss using high-resolution Sentinel-2 satellite images
• Use simple online tools to detect and map land clearing
• Send alerts to the Wilderness Society so action can be taken

To better detect and respond to deforestation, our Focus Zones in the Watch on Nature are areas that the Wilderness Society has identified as being at high risk of clearing. Targeting these areas helps uncover land clearing faster, improve compliance oversight and strengthen the tools needed to protect what’s left.

With support from our volunteers, we are keeping watch over:

• Queensland’s Forests and Bushland
• Western Australia’s Northern Jarrah Forest
• Victoria’s Tall Forests
• Lutruwita / Tasmania’s Forests

Watch on Nature gives groups in regional areas, First Nations communities, ranger groups and citizen science organisations the ability to access data on the extent of forest and bushland clearing, or fire extent, in near real time.

People power
 

Geospatial Analyst Rachel Fletcher, a driving force behind the technology, envisions a future where the power of Watch on Nature empowers citizens to expose and halt deforestation:

“When you see the massive scale of years of deforestation from space, it is really confronting. More people need to see what’s happening. That’s why we’ve developed a citizen scientist platform that helps us keep an eye on what’s happening to forests in real time. And it gives supporters and communities the tools to expose deforestation.”—Wilderness Society Geospatial Analyst, Rachel Fletcher.

Watch on Nature Wins Awards for Innovation and Impact

We’re proud to share that Watch on Nature has been recognised with five prestigious awards. This recognition celebrates the innovation and impact of a platform that’s transforming how we protect forests and bushland all across Australia. 

1. Warwick, Queensland

In 2025, findings in Watch on Nature led to the initiation of a drone investigation, where large-scale clearing of native bushland west of Warwick, Queensland, was uncovered.  The footage shows bulldozers flattening mature forest and habitat-critical ecosystems, which are home to kangaroos and potentially threatened species, to make way for beef pasture expansion.

This clearing, part of a broader trend across Queensland, highlights a much deeper problem: native ecosystems are being destroyed under weak or outdated regulations, often without environmental assessment or oversight.
 

Critically, this area included functioning forest ecosystems more than 15 years old, providing habitat connectivity and carbon storage. Yet, these values were erased in a matter of hours and captured on film as kangaroos fled disoriented through the razed earth.

This is not an isolated event. It reflects a systemic failure to protect biodiversity in one of the world’s most ecologically rich yet most imperilled natural environments. And while the destruction is swift and often silent, the consequences are long-lasting.

We need stronger laws, real enforcement, and a national commitment to end deforestation. The Warwick case is one of many, but with your support, it can be a turning point.

2. Great Koala National Park, New South Wales

Using Watch on Nature, conservationists identified the clearing of over 3,500 hectares of native forest between March 2023 and June 2024. This included critical koala habitat within the area proposed for the Great Koala National Park on the NSW Mid North Coast. These findings exposed major inconsistencies between government commitments and on-the-ground logging, galvanising public and media pressure.

A turning point for the Great Koala National Park

In September 2025, the NSW Government announced it would formally establish the Great Koala National Park, adding 176,000 hectares of state forest to existing reserves and imposing an immediate moratorium on logging within the park boundary. The new reserve covers about 476,000 hectares in total and is projected to protect over 12,000 koalas and more than 100 other threatened species.

Findings from Watch on Nature helped provide clear, timestamped evidence of habitat loss, allowing conservation groups and media to confront decision makers with undeniable proof. That transparency helped accelerate political momentum and accountability, making it harder to delay protections or deny the urgency.

3. Northern Jarrah Forest, Western Australia

In 2024, suspected clearing in the Northern Jarrah Forests on Noongar Country was identified using Watch on Nature. This led to a drone investigation that captured footage of mining operators setting explosives and using heavy machinery on recently cleared forests.

The Northern Jarrah Forests are a globally recognised biodiversity hotspot, and are home to species found nowhere else including quokkas and all three of Western Australia’s threatened black cockatoos. Many of the trees are centuries old and provide vital nesting hollows that cannot be replaced once lost.

While the Western Australian government has ended native forest logging, the policy excludes existing mining operations. Bauxite mining continues to clear large areas of publicly owned forest across the South West. Rehabilitation cannot replicate the complexity or ecological value of what is being destroyed.

Watch on Nature is helping expose this destruction in real time, providing clear evidence to hold mining companies and decision makers accountable. The platform is helping to build the case for the long-term protection of this globally significant forest.