What is iNaturalist? Your Pocket Guide to Discovering our Biodiverse Planet!

Imagine having a tool on your phone which opens up the world of all the amazing plants, animals and fungi all around you. iNatualist is a brilliant, free app and website which turns your nature walks and backyard observations into a treasure hunt. Simply snap a photo of any living thing you find around you. It could be a interesting insect, a beautiful wildflower or a funky mushroom.

Then, watch the iNaturalist community work its magic! Experts and fellow nature enthusiast can help you identify what you have found. Once multiple experts agree on the identification, your observation becomes a research-grade data point.  

Contribute to Real Science

Become a Citizen Scientist with iNaturalist. Your research grade observations can help scientists study many species and populations. iNaturalist observations have contributed to thousands of scientific publications.  Your observations matter!

How to sign up?

Go to https://www.inaturalist.org/ or download the free app. Click sign up and follow the steps to create your account.

Protect Your Privacy

Choose a fun username! Instead of your full name, try something creative like “ElephantLover” or “NatureExplorer”.

How to create your First iNaturalist Discovery

Step 1. Capture the Moment

Spotted something beautiful or quirky on your walk? Tap the big green ”+” Add Observation button to start!

Step 2: Picture Perfect or Sound Savvy

Did you take a photo of that stunning red butterfly or the tiny ants? Upload it here! You can also add sounds of that mystery bird outside your window. Or you can add an observation with no media files.

Step 3: Detective Work

Now you can take a guess at what you are looking at. Look-alkie species will popup bellow the observation so you can identify easily.

Step 4: Write the Story

Write down anything cool about your observation! Where did you see it? What was it doing? Was it around a specific flower? The notes you write will help the experts!

Step 5: Your Time and Place

The date and time are normally done automatically but just double check in case.

Step 6: Your Location, Your Choice

To add a level of safety you can decide how much you want to share

Open Location

If you are willing to share the exact coordinates of your observations with the inaturlist community. You can use open access. This is useful if your observation is used in research but also be mindful about sharing sensitive locations.

Obscured Location

When I make observations around my home, work or school I tend to obscure my location. This means the exact coordinates are only visible to me. If you give your permission some curators of projects and iNaturalist Network staff could view your observation locations. The rest of the community will see a random point around a 20x20km radius around your observation. The location data is still useful for research and can protect the location of threatened or endangered species. These species normally have obscured location automatically set by iNaturalist to protect their location.

Private Location

If you want to keep your location to yourself, this is for you. This is the best for maximum privacy. But makes it harder for scientists to ID and it is less useful for research.

Step 7: Exotic Flower or a Wild Wanderer?

There is a small box that says “Captive/Cultivated”. Tick this if your observation is from a zoo or garden. Which helps scientists understand the natural and human distributed populations.

Step 8: You are now apart of the iNaturalist community

See the big green circle with the tick? Click that and congrats you have just made your first iNaturalist observation!!!

Ready to See Nature Like Never Before?

Contribute to Real Science!

Your research grade observations are valuable for scientists around the world! These observations can be used in scientific studies and reports. Imagine your photos and sounds whether it was of a common dandelion or a rare bird, helping scientists understand those species better. It is such an easy way to help give back and support our planet.

Finding Joy in Nature

Take the time to slow down and appreciate the calm of nature. Capturing photos, from the smallest invertebrates to the birds soaring in the sky. Can give us a sense of peace and joy. Discover more about finding your inner peace in nature.

Discover Natures Cycles

Find the patterns of nature which are all around you. You can track your local birds nesting, watch the clumsy fledglings hopping around and see the changing seasons up close. I see this in my barn as we have Welcome Swallows nesting up on the rafters. They create their beautifully engineered nests of mud, sticks and hay which are attached to the horizontal rafter. I see them nesting in the spring and summer months. Then the fledglings are flying around a month after the eggs are laid.

Your Online Nature Journal

With iNaturalist you can create your personal online nature journal. It is the perfect place to keep track of all of the amazing species you see. From your backyard to exotic countries.  Imagine looking back at all of the incredible diversity you saw on your travels! The notes with these observations bring those moments back to life! I did this on my trip to the Pacific Islands recording colourful birds and intricate plants.

Explore the Wild Wonders of the World!!

Dreaming of your next great adventure? iNaturalist can help you discover the incredible biodiversity of our planet. From the icy landscapes of Antarctica to the vibrant savannas of Zimbabwe, all through the Explore Page and interactive Map. Imagine exploring Indonesias rainforests, filled with colourful butterflies, birds and monkeys you have seen on iNaturalist. Or add your own photos of diving off the coast of Samoa with the turtles, corals and fish. Your observations contribute to science and your own nature journey.

Thank you for Reading!!

I hope you enjoyed learning all about iNaturalist and how it can help science. Share your first iNaturalist species observation in the comments!! Happy Snapping!!!!

Georgia xo