It’s that time of year again, to go out and explore nature.
The Big Backyard BioBlitz is back.
It’s a community science project that not only encourages observing things like birds, insects, plants and animals but helps document species that are rare or at risk.
It’s as easy as walking out onto your balcony, stepping into your backyard or taking a hike along a nearby trail.
Mark Frank from the Nature Conservancy of Canada tells us the initiative started four years ago as a way to encourage people to get outdoors with their friends and family.
And it can be done no matter where you are.
“You don’t have to be an expert, you don’t have to have something you’re looking for, you want to go out there and see what you see. And by just taking the time, slowing down, really observing on that small scale of what is around you.”
Frank says over the course of the project there have nearly 150,000 observations recorded.
Some have definitely been species who are at risk, but by far everyone’s favorite is the monarch butterfly.
However, not as many were spotted last year, which was important to know, Frank adds, for those who are monitoring their health.
In addition to that, he says, if a species is invasive, they can see where it is in the country and whether they need to protect the natural habitat from it.
Every photo also helps make conservation decisions in the future and how to protect the most important and vibrant areas going forward.
“By uploading into the app, there is a community of scientists who will identify what you’ve taken a photo of, so you don’t need to know what it is; and it’s going to be interesting to someone.”
Over 59,000 photos across Canada were uploaded to the events data base last year for conservationists and scientists to take a look.
The BioBlitz runs from August 1 to 5.
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