June 2010 saw the website www.faune-paca.org [1] run by LPO PACA break through the 1 million data-item threshold. Most data concern birds, but mammals, reptiles, amphibians, dragonflies and butterflies are also covered. This zoological information has been entered and mapped in real time.
The website has been developed in a spirit of collaboration and sharing, with a view to providing an online atlas updated in real-time. The software used for the survey, developed by Biolovision, is unique in Europe.
By getting involved in the site, novice and experienced naturalists alike have access to information at local, commune or regional levels. At the national level the data is being used by the LPO in collaboration with the SEOF (French Ornithological Surveys Society) to create a new atlas of nesting birds in mainland France, working in partnership with the National Museum of Natural History. The atlas will cover the period 2009-2012.
Participative science in the service of nature
Participative science is an enjoyable way to find out more about nature on a daily basis, on weekends or while vacationing. Each data item entered is subsequently checked by experts in ornithology, herpetology, mammalogy and entomology.
This surge of grassroots involvement in PACA, with over 1,000 contributors and more than 30,000 observations entered each month, proves that the general public is interested in observing and finding out more about the natural world. Some of the data gathered is included in publications* that serve to raise awareness on the part of local authorities, nature protection professionals and developers.
* Amine Flitti, Benjamin Kabouche, Yves Kayser, Georges Olioso (2009).
Atlas des birds nicheurs de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Delachaux & Niestlé, 544 pages.