The must-have before you head to WA's South West forests
Want to identify a rare plant, a magnificent tree or wildlife? Forget the botany degree, an iPhone is all you need when visiting Western Australia’s South West forests.
Launched last month, the South West NatureGuide app allows visitors to the South West forests explore its natural wonders through expert eyes.
The app contains more than 120 entries on flora, fauna, history and geology, and does away with guidebooks, by giving information about the species scanned – including the name, distribution, a photo and interesting facts – on the spot.
“We aim to help you transform that wall of undifferentiated green into a crowd of familiar faces,” states NatureGuide, which was developed by Matt Wrigley and Christopher Crowell and licensed to the Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Entries focus on tagged trails near Walpole at the Tree Top and Ancient Empire walks, Hill Top, and Horse Yard Hill; near Manjimup at the Diamond Tree and King Jarrah; near Pemberton at the Gloucester and Dave Evans Bicentennial tree; and west of Denmark at William Bay National Park.
The app provides maps of the trails where visitors can find QR code tags to scan on or near trees, plants and other features.
It's recommended visitors download offline versions of maps where mobile network coverage is poor.
The app is currently available for Apple iOS devices, with an Android version expected to be released late this year.
(Top image: The Tree Top Walk. Picture by Jean Leggat, Tourism WA.)
