#BradnerBioblitz Species Database Collection!

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Lisa Dreves (LEPS) - Ever wonder how many different trees, bugs, lichen and plants are in Bradner? The Glen Valley Watersheds Society (GVWS) is hoping to answer just that question and needs YOUR help! From June 1st to 14th, 2020 as part of Canadian Environment Week and Rivers to Oceans week the GVWS is hosting a bioblitz! ​

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A bioblitz is usually finding every kind of life in an area, like a well-loved park, in a 24-hour period.  Unfortunately, with COVID-19 restrictions, it is a little more complicated. Instead the GVWS is inviting everyone to go out in their backyards to take an inventory of everything living there. It can be beetles, mushrooms, trees, birds… everything!

We have 2 weeks to see if we can get the list of species in the Glen Valley Watersheds above the measly 85 species that are currently listed on the iNaturalists database. iNaturalist is a free app for your smartphone or computer that can identify most species by just a picture! If you are interested in checking it out visit http://www.inaturalist.org or find their app in the app store. ​

BUT if you aren’t into that kind of thing the GVWS is also looking through social media for #BradnerBioblitz hashtags. As well, lists of species with their location and date can be forwarded to the GVWS by emailing stewardship@leps.bc.ca.

For those that like a bit of a competition an umbrella project in iNaturalist is being hosted by Langley Environmental Partners Society, you can follow it to see what watershed group in Langley is able to find the greatest number of species in their watershed. The Glen Valley Watersheds Society takes care of four watersheds (West, Palmateer, Nathan/Beaver and Graham Creek) so we must be able to give the rest of Langley a run for its money – after all, Bradner is the most beautiful place on earth!

For info on this initiative contact Lisa at stewardship@leps.bc.ca.