It is impossible for scientists to comprehensively conduct research on wildlife independently. So, the recent surge in interest in citizen science has been a welcome change amongst conservationists. In the field of wildlife conservation, citizen science enables the understanding of issues ranging from tackling human-wildlife conflict to understanding species distribution and road mortality at a larger scale. At the forefront of the citizen science revolution in conservation are smartphone applications.
A plethora of software continues to be released to help in saving wildlife. Below is a list, not exhaustive, of four of the most exciting applications released in recent times. The public can really unite to help save wildlife!
Big4 Mapper
Launched in 2017 by the Wildlife Trust of India, Big4 Mapper was a part of a project to understand the distribution of snake-human conflict in India. The application allowed snake rescuers to upload geospatial information, along with images for verification, regarding snakes they may have removed from precarious urban landscapes. This data plays an indispensable role in allowing authorities and NGOs to allocate resources to conflict hotspots. The application has met with a lot of success, with over 5,000 data entries and over 1,200 volunteer snake rescuers registered on the software.
During the early days of this application, the software only allowed the entry of incidents involving India’s four most dangerous species. Since then, much work has been done to include 30 venomous species. Furthermore, the creators also hope to expand the use of the software to the layman to access the nearest medical aid and snake rescuers. The software is crucial as numerous species of snakes are classified as threatened by the IUCN Red List.
RoadKills
Roads continue to have unprecedented ecological ramifications across the globe. Increased traffic through natural ecosystems has been associated with high wildlife mortality on and alongside highways. However, a lack of comprehensive studies have prevented the implementation of mitigation strategies, and RoadKills hopes to counter this.
Launched in 2018 by Wildlife Conservation Trust, the application is a part of a citizen science effort to understand trends of wildlife mortality due to vehicular collisions. The public would be able to report roadkills by simply uploading images and the respective GPS data on the application.
“RoadWatch” is also a wonderful application with a similar purpose. It was launched by the Wildlife Trust of India in collaboration with the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. The geo-data collected by these applications can prove to be a game changer in tackling road mortality across the world. Existing mitigation projects such as the Pench Elevated Corridors will become less complex to implement with the aid of citizen science.
Wildlife Watch
The last year has been amongst the toughest years globally in recent memory as the COVID-19 Pandemic has bitterly ravaged communities across the globe. The suspected roots of the pandemic, however, continue to flourish. It is apparent that illegal wildlife trade, despite much scrutiny, has not lost its appeal. Fortunately, technology has again allowed the general public to participate in preventing the outbreak of another highly contagious zoonotic disease.
Wildlife Witness was developed by TRAFFIC, one of the front runners in the battle against these gruesome practices, in partnership with Taronga Zoo, Sydney. The application allows users to anonymously report observations of wildlife trafficking in South-East Asia. This can vary from the consumption of exotic meats in supermarkets and restaurants to spotting live animal displays. With the trade being highly lucrative, poachers are known to be clever and subtle. Tracking them remains one of conservation’s most complex challenges. The Wildlife Witness application certainly aids in understanding wildlife trade routes.
The application found success nearly immediately after its launch, generating over 500 reports in 2015.
iNaturalist
With 1.8 million users as of February 2021, iNaturalist is by far the most renowned citizen science platform for nature conservation. The software allows users to upload information regarding wildlife sightings in their daily life. Over 60 million sightings of fungi, plants, birds and mammals have been recorded thus far. Through the use of artificial intelligence, the application also aids users in identifying species. These observations help in understanding the distribution of species.
The software was developed as the final project of a Master’s student at the University of California at Berkeley in 2008 and The California Academy of Sciences, along with the National Geographic Society, have since joined the initiative.
The popularity of the application skyrocketed in 2016, following the commencement of the annual City Nature Challenge. The community science competition is conducted between cities from across the world. Cape Town was declared the winner of the last completed competition in 2019, with a record 53,000 observations made in a short three day period. More challenges like these will certainly increase the interest of the general public in urban biodiversity and we look forward to the growth of iNaturalist.
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