- Executive Summary
This paper explores into the annals of citizen science in relation with the use of tourists in community environmental monitoring in order to enhance the creation of sustainable destinations. The gist of the paper involves the exploration of a central theme of how tourists can be used as citizen scientists in community environmental monitoring. In advancing the theme, the paper analyses six citizen science projects that predominantly use tourists to collect data for analysis. The main project analyzed in the paper is the Fluker Post Research Project in Melbourne Australia. To back the analysis of the research project, other examples of citizen science projects are incorporated into the analysis. From the analysis of the six examples, the paper concludes that the involvement of tourists in community environmental monitoring is of benefit to both the tourists and the management agencies in the said destinations. Through the initiative, major advancements have been made in the management of natural resources as espoused in the analysis a the examples used. The paper also outlines a way through which tourists can be involved in community environmental monitoring. Finally, the paper offers its support for community environmental monitoring through the presentation of evidence from the analysis and other literature. Primarily, sustainability of management initiatives is at risk because of inadequacy of resources. It is for this reason that the involvement of tourists in community environmental monitoring is such an innovative concept. The concept is backed by a research that found data from tourists to be valid and reliable.
- Introduction
Citizen science is at times known as ‘public participation in a scientific research. Formally, citizen science is defined as the methodical collection and subsequent analysis of data, advancement of technology, testing of a natural phenomenon and disseminating these activities by researchers primarily on an avocational basis. More precisely, citizen science is a concept that describes conducting a scientific research in whole or part using nonprofessional or amateur scientists. More often than not, it is done through crowdsourcing.
The activities involved in citizen science take many forms. Individuals involved can be employed to collect data that is later analyzed by professionals. A good example of this is the Christmas Bird Count carried out in 1900. Another form of activity under citizen science is the analysis or aid in analysis of data that is collected by professional researchers. Projects like Zoouniverse and Galaxy Zoo have involved citizen scientists in this particular activity. As part of the activities of citizen science, volunteers have taken part in research expeditions, competed in competitions, developed and built instruments to collect data for smaller or larger projects. Citizen science networks involve themselves in phenology. This entails the monitoring of cyclic natural events like the effects of global warming on plants and animals in different ecological zones and monitoring the management of natural resources. Citizen science has its advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, citizen science helps involve the citizens in the management if its natural resources. Through its activities, citizens appreciate the significance of phenomena like global warming and environmental degradation. Secondly, citizen science helps the development of data collection tools suitable for certain environments. As such, it aids in the development of technology (Cohn, 2008, pp.195).
This notwithstanding, citizen science has its limitations too. For instance, some projects are not suitable for volunteers because they require the use of complex methodologies and entail repetitive or arduous work. The researchers are also more inclined to introduce bias into the data collection thereby affecting the accuracy and reliability of the results because of insufficient or lack of training in monitoring and research protocols.
The involvement of tourists in the monitoring of the environment is a flourishing concept presently. As espoused earlier, citizens science involves crowdsourcing. As such, when monitoring for the management of natural resources, conservation of protected areas and the tracking of endangered species, Community-Based Environmental Monitoring networks have employed the use if tourists. This is because tourists visit the ecological zones that such projects are carried out. The involvement of tourists in the monitoring of the environment is aimed at increasing the sustainability of tourism resources through collaboration with the local communities. These collaborations involve training programs with the local communities on how to best monitor and manage natural resources (Sullivan, 2009, pp.12).
- Examples of Community Monitoring Projects
The Fluker Post Research Project is a citizen science project based in Australia and overseen by Victoria University in Melbourne Australia. The project has installed over 69 posts in different ecosystems throughout Australia. Tourists visiting these ecosystems take photographs of the surroundings and post them on an online website where they are ordered chronologically depending on the place and the time they were taken. The information that is gathered through this project is useful in the decision making of managing organizations in these ecosystems.
The Whales and Glaciers Citizen Science Adventure is a citizen science project that employs tourists and local communities in the sampling of phytoplanktons in order to enable scientists detect the outbreak of ‘red tide’. The contributing photographs taken by tourists help to identify mammals and humpback whales. This in turn provides a baseline data that can be used by different researchers in the State of Alaska. The data are also used to contribute to databases dedicated to citizen science. The predominant participants are cruise lie travelers who sail in every summer in order to observe the local wildlife.
The Citizen Science project in Galapagos provides an opportunity to the over 170, 000 tourists who visit the Archipelago annually to take part in collecting informative data that aids in the joint understanding of the environment. Through the project, tourists and local community members become partners in the generation of data which when analyzed to provide information on our natural environment. The partnership between the tourists and the local community members is aimed at collecting information on a broader spatial scale and making observations in a timely manner than is plausible when employing the use of experts only.
The Ecocean project offers the tourists and members of the community an opportunity to participate in gathering important data to aid in the identification of whale sharks. In partnership with the over 15000 tourists who visit Ningaloo marine park, the project has received thousands of photo towards the development of the ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library. The project also receives photographs from eco-tourists from other countries. For instance, its library contains over 40,000 photos of whale sharks from over 46 different countries. The project has made partnerships with tourism operators in different countries including Mozambique, Maldives, Belize, Galapagos and Philippines among others.
Project BudBurst seeks to engage people and tourists from and in the united states in the gathering of crucial climate change data using the timing of flowering and leafing of trees. More precisely, the citizen scientists will observe phonological events like the first leafing, the first flower and the first ripening. This will be done for a wide variety of plant species. The findings from the tourists and the community members are then posted in an online database where subsequent analysis is done. The scientists can use the information gotten to determine the plant species responses to variations in the climatic either locally, regionally or nationally. The information acquired is also vital in the detection of long term effects of climate change in plant species through the comparison of historical data.
The Yellowstone wolf project is set in the Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming United States. The park attracts millions of visitors annually who come to watch and photograph the abundant wildlife in the park, particularly wolves. Wolves were reintroduced in the park in1995 and 1996 and since then, the reintroduction has been very successful. Even in the midst of the success, the Yellowstone fraternity hopes to improve the data sets available by employing the large pool of data in the form of photographs collected by tourists visiting the park. It is for this reason that the project was started. Through a public site, the tourists will upload photographs of the wolves accompanied with a brief description of the time and the place the photo was taken, the probable identity of the wolf and the park affiliation. This data will be used to answer questions about infection status, individual histories and other attributes of the wolves.
- The Fluker Post Research Project
The The Fluker Post Research Project is a community-Based Environmental Monitoring project. It is a system that is designed to offer community members an opportunity to contribute towards the continuous care and conservation of various natural environments. The community members and tourists participate by taking photographs of various ecological features in different fixed points known as Fluker posts. The tourist and community members then email these photographs to an assigned email where the photographs are ordered chronologically in an online album. For instance, the following is a series of photographs taken in the Great Ocean Walk Post.
Source: The Fluker Post Research Project Web Gallery
The photographs above were taken at different times of the year after the Fluker Post was installed. The photographs are taken around a conspicuous feature around the ecosystem. From the photographs, the changes in that ecosystem around the year can be deducted. The The Fluker Post Research Project was started on the eighteenth of May in 2008. Since then, over one thousand, one hundred and thirty two images have been taken and sent to the project email for ordering in the sixty nine Fliker posts that were installed as of February of 2013.
The Fluker Post Research Project works as a research project overseen by Victoria University in Melbourne Australia. The project uses a research methodology in order to carry out its mandate. The research questions that are used to find the answers are structured in such a way that the photographs sent by tourists can provide the answers. The project seeks to establish the effectiveness of the methods that are used to modify or repair natural environments over time. It also seeks to establish the relationship between the users and the natural environments and public spaces that they experience. As espoused earlier, the project uses citizen scientists to collect the data for analysis. As such, the project explores the concept of citizen science and how it can be used to create and maintain historical accounts of changes that occur in natural environments. The project also tracks the long term changes in the environment that are caused by effects of precipitation, usage and spread of diseases. The Fluker Post Research Project is concerned with the sustainability of efforts in the management and conservation of natural environments. As such, the project is exploring the possibility of developing a tool that allows conservationists and land managers to pinpoint changes that help them make management decisions that helps enhance sustainable gains in the management of land and other natural resources.
The data collected from the photographs can be used by environmental conservation agencies in the ecosystems where these posts are located to make decisions that aid in the conservation of these natural resources. For instance, photographs taken from the Fluker post installed in the Great Ocean Walk when arranged in a series according to the times they were taken showing the changes in the environment around the ecosystem. From the changes noted, the management of the natural ecosystem can determine whether there are instances of environmental degradation. The photos can also show changes that occur on the vegetation in the ecosystems due to the effect of changes in the climate and seasons. With such information, decisions on environmental conservation can be made. The following photograph shows the changes occurring in a marine ecosystem due to the effect of tidal waves. Subsequent photographs taken on the future will show the progression of these changes.
The relationship between the communities that live around the ecosystems and the natural environments is very important. Monitoring these relationships and the effects that they have on the natural resources can be an expensive venture. However, through the Fluker Post Research project, management agencies can monitor the effect the activities of people living around natural ecosystems have on natural resources. With the information, they can make decisions on the best course of action depending on the effect of the relationship. For instance, the conservation of natural resources is a mutually beneficial activity. The local communities exploit the natural resources and at the same time do it in a sustainable way. However, the photographs can show instances of over-exploitation of the natural resources. Using this information, the management agencies can resolve to educate the communities on the importance of sustainability.
- Value to Management
The involvement of tourists in environmental monitoring is of great significance to the management organizations responsible with the conservation of the environment in different regions. Monitoring the conservation of the environment is a continuous task. It requires the investment of resources including time and money. However, through the concept of citizen science, tourists who visit these natural resources like parks and marine environments can be involved in collecting data that helps conserve these environments. This venture is both collaborative and participatory for both local communities and tourists.
Through the information generated from the initiative of the projects involving tourists as citizen scientists, the management of organizations like game parks and reserves are aided in decision making. For instance, the Fluker Post Research Project provides information that enables land managers to detect changes such as trail erosion, weed infestation, repairs, trail regrowth, and reef deterioration. Through such information, land managers can initiate projects to repair the degraded land and boost tourism.
The projects also provide reference data for research. For instance, the Whales and Glacier Citizen Science Adventure project provide baseline data to be used by other researchers in the country and around Alaska. The projects also provide continuous updates on the changes in the natural environment, thereby guiding any decisions towards repair or development. For instance, in the Citizen Science project the data collection is done in a timely fashion and offers information on the state of the natural environment around the island. This keeps the land managers in the area constantly updated on any changes in the landscape and the general environment. The photos taken by tourists and other participants in the Ecocean Project will help track the movements of whale sharks and help determine whether the whale sharks have been spotted in other areas.
This gives the management organizations in the marine environment a way of monitoring the population of the marine life, especially the whale sharks. Through the efforts of the BudBurst Project, the management organizations and scientists are able to gain knowledge on the responses of particular species of plants to climatic variations at a local, regional and national level. The Yellowstone Project helps the management of the park to create an educational tool to help the community understand more about wolves. This tool can be used to educate the tourists and local community members visiting the park on the wolves and other wildlife.
- Value to the tourists
Tourists visit attraction sites to not only enjoy their leisure time and natural sceneries but also to learn. However, with the involvement in a community environment monitoring as citizen scientists, tourists not only get to enjoy the local scenery and wildlife but also take part in creating sustainable destinations. Tourists in the Fluker Post Research Project are able to contribute towards the caring for the natural environment they are visiting in a meaningful way and continue then relationship via social media. Tourists in the Whales and Glacier Citizen Science Adventure get an opportunity for direct participation thereby enhancing their understanding of the wildlife and the local wilderness. The tourists who visit the Archipelago get to take part in protecting the environment through the efforts of the Citizen Science Project.
While enjoying the scenery across the country and in botanical gardens, tourists in the Budburst Project take part in developing data to compare the long-term effects of climate change on plant species. Through their efforts, they not only learn more about plant species but also help understand the impact of global warming. Reintroduction of wildlife in natural ecosystems where they have been wiped out before is not always successful. However, tourists in the Yellowstone project have an opportunity to participate in creating a database that will help in the monitoring and sustaining a success story in wildlife reintroductions in history. The lessons learnt from this park could be used to inform the reintroduction of other wildlife in other ecosystems.
- Conclusion
It is important to enhance the conservation of our natural resources in order to enhance sustainable destinations. Tourism is the backbone of many economies around the globe. In order to tourism to continue supporting these economies and the livelihoods of local communities, it is important for efforts aimed ant conservation be stepped up. Tourism involvement in community environmental monitoring is an innovative way of stepping up efforts towards conservation of natural resources. Through the involvement of tourists, information is gathered in a timely manner.
Tourists travel around the globe to visit and enjoy the sceneries and wildlife in different ecosystems. Professional scientists may not be able to cover all the areas and report on the state of the environment in such ecosystems. However, the involvement of tourists can solve the logistical nightmare that would be encountered if trained field assistants were to be sent to collect the information. As such, and as has been evidenced by the relative success in the six projects that predominantly rely on tourists to collect their data, tourist involvement is not only innovative but also necessary in the community environmental monitoring.
The involvement of tourists in collecting data for use in community environmental monitoring can be done through the installation of posts in various ecological niches. This will harmonize the data that are collected. The data collection method used can be the use of photographs that are accompanied by brief descriptions of various parameters like time and place of capture. Through a central database, the data can be sorted out by professionals in various categories for references. Inferences and deductions can also be made from the data collected in order to generate information that can be used to inform decision making. The development of applications that help in the recording of the information can also boost the accuracy, validity and reliability of the data collected. This is feasible especially now where the penetration of Smartphones has increased.
The report supports community environmental monitoring because of the need to enhance the sustainability of our natural resources. As espoused earlier, monitoring requires a large investment. However, through the concept of citizen science and community environmental monitoring, the huge costs are shaved off without compromising on the quality of work. This has been collaborated by a research that found the data collected by use of photographs taken by tourists and community members has a high validity and reliability (Davies, Stevens, Meekan , Struve & Rowcliffe, 2012, pp.700)
- References
Cohn, J. P. 2008. Citizen Science: Can Volunteers Do Real Research? BioScience, 58(3):192- 197.
Davies, T.K., Stevens, G.,. Meekan , M.G., Struve, J., & Rowcliffe, M. J., 2012. Can citizen science monitor whale-shark aggregations? Investigating bias in mark–recapture modelling using identification photographs sourced from the public. Wildlife Research 39(8) 696-704
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects/ucar/budburst
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects/whalesandglaciers/
http://www.galapagos.org/conservation/citizen-science/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/504644378/yellowstone-wolf-project-citizen-science
http://www.whaleshark.org.au/education/citizen-science/
https://picasaweb.google.com/11467624151921751 0044
Sullivan, R. 2009. Citizen Science Breaks New Ground. ECOS 149, 10-13.
- Appendices
Appendix I: Examples of Tourists as Citizen Scientists
