New citizen science app will help restore UK sand dunes
Environmental monitoring is an essential part of any conservation project. You want to know the health and distribution of the species you’re trying to support, and you need to know whether your actions are helping. The task of generating reliable long-term data sets, then, occupies one of the top spots on the to-do list.
But when that environmental monitoring takes place year-round at over 30 sites in England and Wales, from Cornwall to Cumbria, gathering this data doesn’t come without its challenges. The new Dynamic Dunescapes app developed by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology provides six activities for volunteers to monitor changes in dune systems - including their shape and size, vegetation and water table - over months and years.