The Nature Conservancy of Canada is launching its annual Big Backyard BioBlitz on Thursday.
The event encourages people to get out and document the nature around them.
The organization’s program director in this province, Piers Evans, says the initiative uses an app called iNaturalist.
People are invited to take pictures or audio recordings and upload them to the app. They can play ‘guess the species,’ and the answer can be crowd-sourced among others on the platform, who range from beginners to experts in the field.
Evans says they use the information on the app to expand their reach and gather more information.
He notes they’re constantly in need of more information to inform management and conservation decisions, adding the app gives people another way to interact with nature and contribute to science.