National Parks UK Look Wild
This summer, the UK National Parks are challenging everyone to become scientists and learn more about the wildlife on their doorstep. Wherever you live, we are all surrounded by nature, and we want to know all about you can see in your local green space, and, when it is safe to do so, what you can spot in the Peak District National Park. You don’t need to know what you are looking at as the app and the community using it will help you identify species.
It’s really simple to get involved:
- Download the iNaturalist app to your mobile device, or use the iNaturalist website, create an account, and sign-up to the National Parks UK Look Wild project.
- Be outside.
- Take photos of any plants, insects or animals that you find interesting. You can also record sounds and upload those too. Photos need to capture as much detail as possible without disturbing what you’re photographing.
- Upload the photos to the app with details of where and when you saw it. The app will then help you identify what you have seen, and this will be confirmed by the community on iNaturalist.
All observations are really important, no matter how small or large, and help us understand wildlife on local and national levels and will inform future conservation work. It’s fun for families and a good introduction to volunteering. Happy photographing and posting!
Seek
For our younger contributors we recommend making your nature observations using the Seek app.
Get involved with monthly challenges and earn badges for your observations! The app helps identify species for you, without the need for a wider community or social network, and it is possible to sync any sightings to iNaturalist afterwards.