plot.eco

How PLOT works

A shared record of nature, checked by people, calculated by code.

PLOT keeps dated claims about Australia’s nature with the sources they come from, says how far each has been checked, and turns gaps into concrete next steps. This page is the method in one place; each part links to its published detail.

Four steps

See. Spot. Plot. Mend.

  1. 1SeeLook at what is known about this place, and where each claim came from.
  2. 2SpotNotice what is missing, wrong or changing.
  3. 3PlotPut it on the record, with who said it and how sure.
  4. 4MendTake the next step toward repair.

How the record is built

From a source to a published number

  1. 01 · Find

    By a written protocol

    Each place is searched the same way, with the same questions, steps and costs, written down before the search starts. The protocol is published, so anyone can repeat the search and see what was looked for and not found. The protocol for places

  2. 02 · Check

    A person reads the passage

    Code first checks that a quote is really in its source and that the numbers match. Then a person reads the passage and decides whether it says what the claim says. Only a person marks a claim reviewed; AI never checks its own work.

  3. 03 · Record

    Claim, source, passage, review

    A claim is kept with its source, the exact passage, its date and place, the method, its limits and who checked it. What was observed, what someone reported, what was modelled and what is only a target are kept apart, and never added together.

  4. 04 · Release

    Code calculates, people publish

    Tested code computes every published number from the claims under it. A person releases each edition. Earlier editions stay readable; a correction is a new version at the same address, with the reason.

  5. 05 · Open

    Inspect it, reuse it

    Every page is also JSON, Markdown and an embed, each carrying the same caveats. AI assistants can read the record through llms.txt and a read-only MCP server at /mcp. The record is more useful the more people can check it.

Who does what

AI drafts. People decide. Code calculates.

What PLOT promises

Don't take our word for it.

A claim should take you somewhere: to its source, its limits, and a way to question it.

NextSteps

One concrete action, with what is in the way

A NextStep is one action that would move a place forward: find a missing report, check a claim, ask a council for its mapping, or, later, fund eligible work. Each rests on a sourced passage or on the gap in the evidence it would close.

Each one says what is in the way, why it matters, who is responsible, what it would cost if that is known, and what would change the proposal. It records who proposed it (AI-drafted or written by a person), the reasoning and the alternatives considered, and a person confirms it before it is listed. Doing it is recorded as activity, never as proof that nature improved.

One scale · proposed

Five levels. Every place, same scale.

Where a place sits today, and what reasonable change would take it to the next level. Proposed: each level needs a published method before any place gets one, so every place is not yet assessed. This scale is about nature itself; the levels on How complete is PLOT are about the record.

  1. 1

    Bare

    Very little lives here.

  2. 2

    Remnant

    Fragments survive, but nothing connects.

  3. 3

    Mending

    The structure is back. Species are returning.

  4. 4

    Functioning

    The system mostly runs itself, with care.

  5. 5

    Flourishing

    Abundant, connected and cared for as Country.

Read the methods

Each part, in full