iNaturalist Canada

Background

There is a naturalist in all of us, from those of us viewing birds and squirrels in our backyards to biologists, from hikers to city strollers, from school kids collecting leaves or rocks to experts collecting museum specimens. Many of us record our sightings with our phones, in notebooks or random Facebook postings. For those of you who would like to turn your nature observations in to data that helps Canadian scientists track biodiversity, a truly great way is to record them using iNaturalist.ca!

You might not realize it, but there is extremely valuable biodiversity information within each of those sightings of wildlife. The more people that record their observations in iNaturalist.ca, the bigger impact we can have for Canada’s wildlife. Using the iNaturalist.ca platform, we can build a living record of life in Canada that scientists and environmental managers can use to monitor changes in biodiversity, and that anyone can use to learn more about Canada’s amazing natural history.

iNaturalist.ca is a tool that makes it easy to learn: image and sound recognition software will instantly provide suggestions of what you just took a photo of…and it’s amazingly accurate. Observations are then reviewed by experts in the iNaturalist community to help confirm the identification. You can look up what species have been seen nearby and keep track of all your sightings with your personal species list.

Be Part of CWF Observation Nation!

Make observations – win prizes. It’s a win/win for conservation.

CWF invites you to become part of our iNaturalist.ca community. Simply sign into your account at iNaturalist.ca and join our CWF Observation Nation project. Tap “join” in the project’s About section then start making observations! That’s it! And here’s a great incentive to join!

Join Project

Videos

Key Achievements

• 2019 study found 52% of Canadian conservation programs that participate in policy assessments use citizen science data, with iNaturalist being one of the most cited platforms. Learn more at "ScienceDirect" >
• Millions of observations in Canada documenting tens of thousands of different species!
• The first ever recorded finding of the European Firebug in Canada was made using iNaturalist.ca
• iNaturalist Canada boasts the most northern observation in the world — Fjaeldmark Dwarf Weaver spider!
• The Monarch Butterfly (an Endangered species in Canada) is one of the most observed species in iNaturalist.ca (this list includes the Grey Squirrel, the Mallard Duck and the Canada Goose).
• A new Canadian species of moth was discovered.
• New species to Canada identified via iNaturalist.ca!

Program Lead

James Pagé

Working with the folks at iNaturalst.org, I've been the lead at the Canadian Wildlife Federation in the creation of iNaturalist.ca, along with our partners at the Royal Ontario Museum, Parks Canada and NatureServe Canada. I work on various species at risk and biodiversity projects at CWF, including turtle recovery work, rare (mostly plant) species surveys, citizen science and years ago got my feet wet (literally and figuratively) with vegetation surveys in eastern Ontario. I know a little about a little when compared to the vast number of species we have in this country! But I love getting out to explore and expand my knowledge as often as I can.

“I’m so inspired by the number of Canadians exploring our vast country to build an ever-growing account of life in Canada. From beginners to experts, young and old, together we’re able to accomplish something scientists could never have done on their own.”