Frangipani hornworm
~ With citizen science approach to data collection ~
ANGUILLA--The Anguilla National Trust (ANT), the Agriculture Unit of the Department of Natural Resources and the Gender Affairs Unit are working together to better understand and conserve Anguilla’s pollinators. They each were awarded grants from the UK’s Darwin Plus Initiative and the EU’s BEST 2.0+ funding mechanism to better understand and conserve Anguilla’s pollinators.
As part of this pollinator project, the ANT, the Agriculture Unit and Gender Affairs Anguilla will be collecting information about Anguilla’s pollinators and more specifically, the different types of pollinators, their numbers and their range. Although ANT and Agriculture Unit staff will be conducting surveys across the island, the agencies hope to engage the public through a citizen science approach to data collection.
The public is encouraged to take photos of any and all bees, butterflies, birds, bats and any other insect or animal that they observe on any type of flower. Photos, along with details about the location – for example, village, specific road – can be sent by WhatsApp or text message to the ANT’s mobile phone number or can be uploaded directly to the Anguilla Pollinator Project iNaturalist page. Individuals submitting images do not need to be able to identify the pollinator or the plant, although they are welcome to, should they know the species.
A release from the ANT notes that the research is necessary because almost 90 per cent of the world’s flowering plants, including food crops, depend on animals and insects for pollination and many of these are facing major population declines. Pollinator loss can lead to the collapse of entire ecosystems and have a devastating impact on global food supplies.
It also notes that the data sourced through these efforts will represent Anguilla’s first comprehensive collection of pollinator information for the island and will help natural resource managers to better understand the status of the island’s pollinators as well as to identify any actions that may need to be taken as a community to ensure that they are not lost.
