Inspiring personal connections with nature, caring and contributing to scientific knowledge
Our Biodiversity Squamish Project, based on the iNaturalist application, was started in 2017 as a way to encourage people of all ages, with all levels of knowledge and with all kinds of photographic equipment to see more in nature and to contribute to a database used by scientists worldwide.
It made ecological sense that Biodiversity Squamish’s boundary be the same as that of two relevant projects underway at the time: the BC government’s Howe Sound Cumulative Effects Project and the initiative to create a Howe Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region. To support the UNESCO nomination, the Átl’ka7tsem / Howe Sound Biosphere Region (AHSUBR) iNaturalist project was created in 2019. The species dataset associated with Biodiversity Squamish was useful for the nomination application, as it included museum and professional records.
Since Biodiversity Squamish was formed, iNaturalist has evolved. Observations made for the area within the AHSUBR are now automatically added to the AHSUBR project, which has the same boundary as Biodiversity Squamish. You can scroll down this home page to the map, then zero in on your area of interest, eg. Squamish, to open individual observations.
Observations are manually added to the Biodiversity Squamish project which is gradually becoming more specific to the Squamish area. The two projects are interconnected.
Tips:
- BC Parks Foundation has created this guide to making effective iNaturalist observations.
- iNaturalist is intended for species growing wild (not cultivated or captive).
- If taking photos with your phone:
- Start by using your phone’s camera to take several closeups of the same subject from different angles and one photo that shows its habitat.
- Then go to iNaturalist to create an observation. This will allow you to upload your best photos of the subject as one group, rather than as separate observations.
- You can add notes to describe anything unusual you noticed.
- Suggest an identification as specific as you can to attract the attention of someone who can help you identify it. Even saying “plants” or “insects” can be helpful.
Photo above: Double rainbow over the Squamish Estuary, by Vanessa Isnardy. Project logo created by Carl Halvorson.