CONSERVATION NEWS
CONSERVATION NEWS
The latest national and international news from the conservation world, compiled by Tim Clabon.
IRISH NEWS
A Blue Tit in Northern Ireland perched on a stick
with a fresh catch of caterpillars in its mouth
The number of records submitted through Biodiversity Ireland’s Citizen Science Portal passed the 100,000 mark on the 4th of July, in comparison to this record being reached in 2019 on the 22nd August. The three months of the Covid-19 lockdown saw an increase in the rate of recording. April experienced a 54% increase, May a 70% increase and June 66% compared to previous years. This would indicate people turned to recording and engaging with wildlife during the lockdown. The lockdown may have allowed people to spend more time on their interests and perhaps learn about their locality, connect with nature and maybe notice more wildlife that can be so often overlooked despite being virtually on peoples doorsteps.
Biodiversity Ireland’s #SpeciesADay was also an initiative set-up to encourage people to record the wildlife they see in their local area. This appears to have had a great response, with many people engaging with the campaign. https://www.biodiversityireland.ie/recordersreach-the-100000th-record-mark-in-2020/ “2020 has seen a marked increase in recording activity throughout the country,” according to Oisín Duffy, Surveys and Records Officer with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, “There has been a significant surge in recording activity, particularly from April of this year, with figures
higher than we have ever seen. On average, over 3,500 records are being entered each week in 2020. Massive thanks to all our recorders who have made this possible. Ireland’s Citizen Science portal is available to be used by anyone; if you see a species of note and are sure of its identification, please submit the details to https://records.biodiversityireland. ie/ so that the observation can be added to our national biodiversity database. This will allow us to continue to build the knowledge base on what species we have in Ireland and help us to better understand how they are distributed. Irish Wildlife Autumn ‘20
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