Explore iNaturalist.ca, a platform empowering citizen scientists to effortlessly track biodiversity.
“What personal action can I take to help protect wildlife?” It’s a question often posed by individuals concerned with biodiversity loss who are looking to have a positive impact on the natural world around them. Canadian Wildlife Federation suggests one simple way to have a real impact is to track biodiversity using the free iNaturalist app.
Anyone can become a valuable ally to scientists and environmental managers simply by putting your iNaturalist app to good use. Whether through use of a smartphone, tablet or camara, the goal with iNaturalist Canada is to record observations and sound recordings of all the wild flora and fauna you can find the next time you find yourself outdoors, whether in the wilderness, urban spaces, or your own backyard. By recording and uploading those sightings into the iNaturalist.ca platform, you can turn your nature observations into important data that helps Canadian scientists track biodiversity across the country. So far Canadians have registered more than 13 million observations into the platform, creating an active database of biodiversity information than helps guide conservation efforts from coast to coast.
The more people that record their observations in iNaturalist.ca, the bigger impact we can have for Canada’s wildlife from coast to coast. Using the iNaturalist.ca platform, we can build a living record of wildlife in Canada that scientists and environmental managers can use to monitor changes in biodiversity. It can also be used by anyone hoping to learn more about Canada’s amazing natural history.
iNaturalist.ca is a tool that makes it easy to learn. Image recognition software will instantly provide suggestions of what you just photographed, and it’s amazingly accurate. Observations are then reviewed by experts in the iNaturalist community to help confirm the identification. It’s a fun, educational, and easy way to become a “citizen scientist” while creating a “nature selfie” of Canada’s vital biodiversity. iNaturalist Canada is led by the Canadian Wildlife Federation along with Nature Serve Canada and Parks Canada.
Learn more at iNaturalist.ca.
