From Thursday to Monday, the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Big Backyard Bioblitz is combining technology and community-based science to create an accessible way for people in Lethbridge, in Alberta and across Canada, to enjoy nature and to contribute to scientists’ species knowledge.
This is NCC’s fourth annual Big Backyard BioBlitz. A bioblitz is a community-led science effort to document as many species as possible within a specific area and time.
During last year’s event, nearly 10,000 participants logged close to 60,000 observations across the country, with the most frequent being monarch butterflies, which are classified as endangered globally.
In Alberta specifically, participants logged over 4,500 observations.
From past years, these have included yellow warbler, plains bison, moose and persius duskywing, a butterfly species considered extirpated in eastern Canada.
All observations help scientists and conservation planners access data and information to inform future protection and restoration efforts.
From office commutes to national parks, participants can snap photos and record audio clips of species they see in their local environments.
Once registered, participants can submit their discoveries to iNaturalist, a crowd-sourced species inventory
