Consider citizen science

Citizen Science is a buzzword you may have heard but not really know what it means or how it works. Basically it’s the average person, like you or me, recording our nature observations in a place that researchers and scientists can also access, to help them with their work and projects, especially in nature conservation, where the more knowledge we have the better we’re able to help.

Bird Counts

Bird counts are an easy and fun way for everyone to get involved with protecting birds. Sites like https://ebird.org, an online database of bird observations provides scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance and they are easy to use, providing valuable information to people all over the globe.

https://ebird.org/atlasnz/about/how-to-atlas was setup to monitor New Zealand bird populations over a 5 year period in order to provide up to date information for the conservation of our native birds - and anyone can get involved.

25 June – 3 July 2022. Gift an hour of your time to help New Zealand’s birds. Done every year at the same time the https://gardenbirdsurvey.landcareresearch.co.nz/ is undertaken to see what is happening with the birds in our backyards and helps Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research to make decisions to protect our environment.

Helping other species

https://www.inaturalist.org/places/new-zealand is a more all-round site where you can id an unknown find or search for a project that interests you and get involved. You can even start your own initiative. Learn about nature while helping scientists working to understand and protect the environment.

The above websites are but a few of the myriad of groups contributing to conservation through citizen science so ask around and get involved in a local science project. It is fun and you will feel proud knowing you are contributing to saving the lives of the plants and/or animals you chose to help.

Posted by Gordon Thompson on March 12, 2022