BirdLife South Africa has released two handy guides to using BirdLasser and iNaturalist.
The revolution in geology and palaeontology that took place in the Nineteenth Century, and that ultimately led to the acceptance of evolution, was to a large extent powered by enthusiastic amateurs. These individuals, many of them clergymen, spent much of their free time tramping Britain to find fossils and geological formations that would support the new theories.
That same spirit animates today’s generation of what we now call citizen scientists–interested members of the public who may have a special interest in one or other category of wildlife or plant life, or who are just general environment or wildlife mavens. These individuals are playing an increasingly important role in gathering the large amounts of accurate data that scientists need to manage our precious wildlife resources.
One of the big advances in this area is the emergence of platforms that allow citizen scientists to input their data in a consistent format where it can be verified and consolidated for researchers and scientists to use.
BirdLife South Africa has released two useful fact sheets to help amateur birders and naturalists upload their sightings to the benefit of all.
Download Using iNaturalist.
Download Using BirdLasser.
