Monitor Local Biodiversity With Your Phone

Are you looking for a way to spend time outside in nature while contributing to a worthy cause? Then this micro-volunteering opportunity is perfect for you!

EcoSpark is an environmental charity connecting people to their local natural environment through education, monitoring and stewardship. We believe that citizen science is a powerful tool for spreading awareness and mobilizing local data collection. By collecting biodiversity observations through iNaturalist, you can learn more about the local species living around you, and help scientists working to study and protect them.

Safely explore nature from wherever you are by finding wild species close to home. Whether this means taking a walk through your local park, or watching birds from your window, you can make observations from wherever you experience nature.
Download the free app from iNaturalist.ca and make an account (users must be 13 years or older to make an account). Alternatively, try their Seek app (no account required), for family-friendly learning.
On iNaturalist.ca, search for the project called EcoSpark Community Observations and click join.
Go outside and safely observe a wild plant or animal.
Take a clear picture or record a sound of what you find. Be sure to note the location.
Upload your observation to iNaturalist. If you know the species, great! If not, put your best guess (if you know it’s a ‘plant’ for example, but aren’t sure what kind, just put ‘plant’).
Congratulations! You have just contributed valuable data to science. Feel free to continue to make observations, as each observation helps provide a more complete picture for ecologists.
Be aware of human and wildlife safety at all times and explore natural areas responsibly with ethical wildlife photography. To support biodiversity research focus on: wild insects, birds, weeds, and other wild plants, animals and fungi (rather than cultivated species like garden flowers).