As an example: Even though the Central Valley of California was once one of North America’s richest wildlife habitats, with its miles and miles of wetlands, it has since turned to farming, resulting in vastly decreased biodiversity & disrupted bird migrations.
With a program powered by Citizen Science, there is now better habitat management of these wetlands that can help increase habitat for birds & biodiversity, while also helping farmers.
While primarily focused on birdwatching, eBird also includes farmers who contribute observations about bird populations on their lands. This data is used to study the effects of agricultural practices on bird species, helping to develop bird-friendly farming techniques.
This is where the BirdReturns program comes in… a unique example of a “pop-up” wetland approach that compensates farmers, particularly rice farmers in California, for creating temporary wetlands on their fields during critical bird migration periods…all powered by the data crunched from Citizen Science!
I have no connection to these programs, but I thought they are cool examples of what the power of Citizen Science, farmers, and every day people can do. 🌎 👨🌾 🌾
hashtag#biodiversity hashtag#california hashtag#farming hashtag#citizenscience
🕊 Cool Fact: Citizen Science is Helping Farmers and the Environment!
