The Biodiversity and Development Institute is asking South Africans to become Citizen Scientists and to help with biodiversity mapping around the country.
South Africa (25 January 2021) – The Biodiversity and Development Institute (BDI), a non-profit, invites everyday South Africans to become citizen scientists by helping to map South Africa’s incredible wildlife, plant life and other unique species.
All you need is a smartphone, some spare time and a deep interest in conservation. The concept is that if you see something unique, that you take a photo of it and make a note of the date, time and location then submit the information to BDI.
Examples of these types of projects are photographing the Southern African Ground Hornbill or the Yellow-billed Oxpecker. These are just two sightings often referenced but say you enjoy hiking and looking at various fungi, you can specialise in mapping the fungi on your favourite routes.
Each project falls into the different biomes of our country where various research projects are currently running. For a full breakdown of the projects, check out their website here.
“BDI Citizen Science (formerly known as the Animal Demography Unit http://www.adu.uct.ac.za) believes that the best way to achieve biodiversity conservation is to involve the public through citizen science and solid quantitative evidence.
We believe that citizen scientists can make a significant contribution towards healing the massive biodiversity issues of our generation. On one hand, citizen scientists enable up-to-date distribution maps for species to be made. On the other hand, citizen scientists generate civic awareness for biodiversity in their communities, becoming ‘ambassadors for biodiversity’.”
BDI is hosting week-long courses during 2021 and they are hoping to grow their Citizen Scientists list. If you are interested in working to map South African biodiversity, you can get all the info for dates below.
“You can be a part of this by attending the BDI’s week-long Fundamentals of Citizen Science course. We plan to run the course multiple times in 2021, at different venues. Provisionally (but with accommodation booked at the three places), these dates have been selected: 21–28 February at Karoo Gariep Nature Reserve, Hanover; 11–18 April at Karoo Plains, Carnarvon; 6–13 August at Botuin, Vanrhynsdorp.
How do you apply? Start by sending an email to Megan at megan@thebdi.org”
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