The Great Southern BioBlitz (GSB) is an exciting international initiative that embarks on an intensive biological survey during the vibrant spring season of the southern hemisphere. The GSB was established in 2020 during the global pandemic by a group of bioblitz enthusiasts in Australia. The goal of the GSB is to document the flora, fauna, fish and fungi of the southern hemisphere while providing a platform for groups, associations, local governments and individuals to encourage engagement in citizen science. This collaborative effort is facilitated through the online platform iNaturalist.
In the past three years, GSB has proved to be a resounding success in engaging individuals with nature and expanding their knowledge of local flora and fauna.
iNaturalist
iNaturalist is one of the world’s most popular biodiversity observation platforms. It is an online, biodiversity-focused, citizen science platform and app. Its main goal is to create a nature-based social network where like-minded users can share photos of interesting organisms they've observed. iNaturalist has evolved over time to become a valuable biodiversity database tool and is used by more than 2.5 million people globally, including amateur naturalists, museum curators, and world experts in their field.
Every observation you upload becomes a valuable data point representing an encounter with a species at a point in space and time. Anyone, anywhere in the world, with a smartphone can download the app and start posting images and descriptions of their observations. Artificial intelligence narrows down the ID first, and you can share your findings with others to confirm it. A large community of identifiers helps to confirm the species observed, after which it becomes labelled as ‘research grade’. Research grade observations are then piped into databases like the Atlas of Living Australia and the Global Biodiversity Facility where they can be used by scientists, schools and more for research.
Want to learn more about iNaturalist?
- Join the Introduction to iNaturalist workshop
- Detailed guide to iNaturalist for Australia
- Getting started guides on iNaturalist
Participate in the Great Southern Bioblitz 2024
- Join the iNaturalist community – download the iNaturalist app or upload your photos onto iNaturalist Australia. After you have signed up by entering a username and password your observations will be automatically recorded under the project for the locality where the recording occurred.
- Make nature observations from 20 to 23 September. You can upload your observations until 7 October 2024.
- Register as a Great Southern BioBlitz participant to receive project updates and a certificate at the end of the bioblitz.
- Join your local council Great Southern BioBlitz project page, see what has been observed and help identify species:
