Get your camera ready: Nature non-profit wants to see what's in your backyard and beyond

Whether you're a newly hatched naturalist or an eagle-eyed expert, nature lovers of all kinds are encouraged to get outside with their cameras this weekend.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is hosting its annual Big Backyard BioBlitz, a community-led initiative to find and identify as many species as possible in a set amount of time. 

The land conservation organization is encouraging people take part in the BioBlitz by photographing local wildlife and plant life and uploading it to the iNaturalist app and website.

Anything from plants, birds, insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, lichen and fungi can be uploaded to the app and can give valuable information to biologists.

By getting local nature enthusiasts out to document these species, the team at the conservancy can use that information to gain a deeper understanding of local biodiversity that can be used to determine future conservation efforts.

Mark Frank, a development officer with the non-profit, said the BioBlitz is an opportunity for people of all ages to slow down and appreciate the vast number of species that are all around them.

"Every species, every observation is extremely important and is valuable for us to make conservation decisions in the future," said Frank.

Things like local pollinators, rare species, and potentially invasive species are important and can't always be documented without the help of citizen science. A BioBlitz gives scientists access to parts of the country they can't constantly survey, from backyards to local trails and rivers.

More than 700 Nova Scotians took part in last year's event, uploading nearly 5,000 photos featuring black ash trees, migratory shorebirds, insects, endangered monarch butterflies and other species.

Past BioBlitz participants across Canada have contributed almost 150,000 photos since the event launched in 2020.