Northland Youth BioBlitz CW2019's Journal

Check out the link below for the full article on AI for Earth by Microsoft, and its links with iNaturalist.
https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/features/we-need-to-do-some-radical-things-and-we-need-to-do-them-now/

iNaturalist works through tech, innovation and a global network of naturalists (people like you and me, out recording what nature surrounds us).
Nature needs us, that is pretty clear, and in order to help nature we need to do some radical things and we need to do them now.

This Conservation Week we can not only HELP scientists to help the planet, but BE the scientists, and collectively make a difference.

“One of the great ironies of our day is that we often ask the organisations with the fewest resources to do the most – environmental non-profits, academics, under-funded governmental agencies. They’re the ones tasked with solving one of humanity’s greatest ever challenges?! That’s absurd – we need absolutely everyone leaning in right now".

• Lucas Joppa, Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Officer and the man behind the company’s $50m AI for Earth programme.

Check out the link below for the full article on AI for Earth by Microsoft, and its links with iNaturalist.
https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/features/we-need-to-do-some-radical-things-and-we-need-to-do-them-now/

Check out the link
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12248908

By being observant, two people in Auckland recently discovered one of the worlds worst weeds growing in a North Shore neighbourhood. A plant that if left unmanaged could strangle our native forests. This is the first time this plant has ever been recorded in New Zealand. Hopefully it is the only one! Time and careful searching will tell.
Early intervention is key. In an ideal world these species would never make it past our airport biosecurity systems, but detecting every tiny seed on a visitors socks is like mission impossible.
With iNaturalist, being observant of our neighbourhoods is easy. Using iNaturalist, that discovery of the Himalayan wineberry bramble could have been made anyone, even you. You don't need to be a professional, you just need to take the photo, make your best guess and upload your observation. Thanks to the app, the professionals are right there at your fingertips.
So what might be in your neighbourhood? The worlds worst weed? I hope not! But it is possible, and finding it ASAP is key.
Alternatively you might discovery a new native species, or a species that was thought to have gone extinct.
Will you accept the challenge?

Check out the link
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12248908