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The Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project, which is sponsored
by the conservation group Conservation Northwest, is among
the largest citizen science efforts in North America. Amateur sci-
entist volunteers track and monitor wildlife to assist scientists in
the Northwest. In 2016 more than eighty volunteers installed and
maintained cameras in twenty-seven different surveying areas in
Washington State and in British Columbia in Canada. By exam-
ining photos taken by the cameras, the participants detected a
number of species, including the gray wolf, mountain lion, fisher
(a member of the weasel family), black bear, marten (another rela-
tive of the weasel), moose, mule deer, snowshoe hare, porcupine,
bobcat, and coyote, among others. “Throughout the year,” says
Conservation Northwest, “we captured photo evidence of rare
wildlife moving in areas where we’ve never documented them be-
fore.” The group adds that the Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project
is generating important results for rare and recovering species.
“The data our volunteers collect supports state and federal con-
servation efforts, and with it we’ll continue to fight for our native
wildlife and help ensure their successful recovery!”
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Scientists in other parts of the world are also embarking on
wildlife research with assistance from volunteers. In South Africa,
for instance, a long-term citizen science study revealed in 2017
that critical forest habitat for birds was seriously threatened by
deforestation. South Africa is home to a spectacular variety of
birds, including parrots, blue cranes, hawks, African penguins,
sunbirds, crowned eagles, and grey louries. These and other
South African birds are dependent on forest habitats for survival;
they need trees for housing, nesting, protection, and food. But
according to the citizen science study, about half of South Africa’s
forest-dependent bird species are vanishing.
Although only 1 percent of South Africa’s landscape is forest,
these forests provide a habitat for 14 percent of the country’s ter-
restrial birds. As the study confirmed, when forests are cut down,
habitats are fragmented or destroyed, and many species of birds
cannot survive. According to ecologist Michael Cherry, wildlife
species other than birds may be even more threatened by defor-
estation. “If birds—perhaps the most mobile of animals—are be-
