Image: Brent Calver
Canadians are encouraged to connect with nature this long weekend and become citizen scientists.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is holding its second annual Big Backyard BioBlitz until August 2.
Spokesperson Paula Noël says you can snap photos of plants, animals and insects and upload them to the iNaturalist app.
“It can be used by scientists, it certainly informs our work at the Nature Conservancy of Canada to know just what’s out there and where and potentially find some rare and unusual species,” Noël said in a phone interview.
In previous years, the conservancy has hosted BioBlitz events on its nature reserves, but the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible last year.
Noël said they still wanted to encourage people to get outside and enjoy nature, which is why they took a virtual approach.
“We were really thrilled and surprised with the uptake,” said Noël. “We had over 1,400 people across the country join in and make observations. Together, they recorded over 20,000 different observations.”
In addition to helping scientists and organizations like NCC, the iNaturalist app helps Canadians learn more about the different plants, animals, and insects in their backyard and throughout their neighbourhood.
Noël said when you upload a photo to the app, it will make a recommendation on what it is you are looking at based on similar photos and information uploaded to the database.
“It’s really remarkably accurate for a lot of things,” said Noël. “Then there are volunteer scientists across the country who monitor the site and will verify if what you’ve found is actually that or they’ll correct it if the app has got it wrong.”
You can register for the Big Backyard BioBlitz by visiting the Nature Conservancy of Canada website website.
