iN PHOTOS: Backyard BioBlitz wants your snaps of flora, fauna in Okanagan, Kamloops

Residents in Kamloops and the Okanagan are out in nature this week taking photographs of flora and fauna to submit to the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s annual BioBlitz Event.

A fun and educational activity for all ages, participants use smartphones, tablets or digital cameras to collect images or sounds of what they find and upload them to the iNaturalist app.

The information collected will help researchers and conservationists better understand local biodiversity including at locations of at-risk and invasive species.

“Open to everyone, the Big Backyard BioBlitz is a week-long community science event that empowers people to identify and record wildlife and plant species where they are,” reads a Nature Conservancy of Canada media release.

Last year, roughly 6,000 photos of plants and animals in BC were submitted. Since the event began in 2021, more than 193,000 observations have been submitted by participants, documenting more than 8,600 species, including many that are rare, at-risk, or endangered. This year the event has been expanded by a few more days to encourage more participation.

“Whether you’re a nature newbie, a budding naturalist or a seasoned observer, your contributions matter,” Lesley Neilson with Nature Conservancy of Canada, BC Region said in a media release.

“Through this crowd-sourced effort, each observation helps researchers and conservationists better understand local biodiversity, detect invasive species, and track changes over time, especially in the face of climate change.”

Participants can also download learning activities for younger naturalists including scavenger hunts and colouring pages.

All you have to do to participate is go here and start uploading your observations.

Participants are encouraged to share their sightings on social media, using the hashtag #NCCBioBlitz.