Being launched today, the BiodiverCity Photo Contest by Nature Forever Society (NFS) and The Hindu national newspaper, can be counted as India's first crowdsourcing project that makes effective use of social media explosion and digital/mobile camera penetration to enable citizens to participate in environmental conservation.
The contest aims to create awareness among citizens on biodiversity found in human habitats ("in their own backyards") and document photos of various plant and animal species that would give a clue to their status of existence in urban and rural habitats.
Using their digital or mobile phone cameras citizens can take pictures of flowers, insects, birds, animals they find in and around where they live and work and upload them in The Hindu Shutterbug photo contest platform. The contest is open till February 28, 2013. Each participant can upload up to two photos. The best photos - to be adjudged by votes - will be featured in The Hindu newspaper. However, all participants will be given a citation from Nature Forever Society.
The contest aims to create awareness among citizens on biodiversity found in human habitats ("in their own backyards") and document photos of various plant and animal species that would give a clue to their status of existence in urban and rural habitats.
Using their digital or mobile phone cameras citizens can take pictures of flowers, insects, birds, animals they find in and around where they live and work and upload them in The Hindu Shutterbug photo contest platform. The contest is open till February 28, 2013. Each participant can upload up to two photos. The best photos - to be adjudged by votes - will be featured in The Hindu newspaper. However, all participants will be given a citation from Nature Forever Society.
Mr Mohammad Dilawar, NFS
"Biodiversity in urban habitats is very critical from the conservation point of view," says Mr Mohammad Dilawar, Founder, NFS. "We think national parks and sanctuaries when we think of biodiversity. But we fail to appreciate the wonders of nature that is there in our own backyards. The contest will change the perception of people, when they go around taking pictures of plants, insects, reptiles, birds, and natural landscapes. The next time they look at an ant, they look at it from a different perspective. And conservationists will know what is found where. There is always a chance for us to find local species of plants or insects that are not yet known."
Motivation for Participants
Though the winning entries will be featured in The Hindu, the contest does not offer cash/non-cash prizes. "We think that the pride and satisfaction of taking part in a nation wide conservation project itself will motivate them to take action," Dilawar says and adds that "each participant is a winner, because he or she is providing graphic data that go into producing India's first nationwide biodiversity photo catalogue".
Photo Contest Platform
TheHinduShutterbug social media platform from The Hindu has been hosting several Chennai centric photo contests in the past. Participants can create a new account or use their existing Facebook account to login and upload pictures. The participants can also vote photos submitted by others, share their photo submissions in their own social networking channels, and invite their friends to vote their photos. Viewers can also comment. In short, the platform has all popular social media features.
Benefits for The Hindu
With its simple, functional and standard social platform, The Hindu hosts monthly contests on different themes. In the process, the publication is able to crowdsource hundreds of creative photos every month that go into its archives. The publication reserves the right to use the photos in its newspapers and magazines, giving due credit to the source.
With people eager to contribute their bit to environmental conservation, NFS-The Hindu photo contest is likely to generate an overwhelming response from across the country.
Motivation for Participants
Though the winning entries will be featured in The Hindu, the contest does not offer cash/non-cash prizes. "We think that the pride and satisfaction of taking part in a nation wide conservation project itself will motivate them to take action," Dilawar says and adds that "each participant is a winner, because he or she is providing graphic data that go into producing India's first nationwide biodiversity photo catalogue".
Photo Contest Platform
TheHinduShutterbug social media platform from The Hindu has been hosting several Chennai centric photo contests in the past. Participants can create a new account or use their existing Facebook account to login and upload pictures. The participants can also vote photos submitted by others, share their photo submissions in their own social networking channels, and invite their friends to vote their photos. Viewers can also comment. In short, the platform has all popular social media features.
Benefits for The Hindu
With its simple, functional and standard social platform, The Hindu hosts monthly contests on different themes. In the process, the publication is able to crowdsource hundreds of creative photos every month that go into its archives. The publication reserves the right to use the photos in its newspapers and magazines, giving due credit to the source.
With people eager to contribute their bit to environmental conservation, NFS-The Hindu photo contest is likely to generate an overwhelming response from across the country.
Fujitsu's Dandelion Map: A Case Example from Japan
Japan' information and communication technology major Fujitsu undertook a citizen conservation project that used GPS mobile phone cameras to map the spread of dandelion plants in Japan.
Modeled as a photo survey, Fujitsu asked its employees and their families to take photos of dandelion flowers in their locality. The company collected about 1,400 graphic dandelion data sets in February 2011.
Since the employee participants were so enthusiastic to take part in the photo survey as they found it an opportunity "to enjoy time with their families while being closer to nature," the company opened the survey for the participation of all citizens.
The project: "Let's Make a Nationwide Dandelion Front Map Together!" had two objectives. "One was to investigate the position of dandelions in the biosphere and the effects of global warming by mapping the dandelion fronts nationwide. The other was to bring people closer to nature and so spread awareness of the importance of biodiversity among as many people as possible." From the new start in February 2011 through the following June, the company gathered a total of some 9,700 graphic data sets on dandelions.
Accumulating photos of dandelions taken by mobile phones with GPS functions in a graphic database, Fujitsu used location information and mapping to view and analyze the data to produce a dandelion front map in Japan. "This success encouraged us to believe that a familiar plant like the dandelion could serve to increase interest in biodiversity throughout
Japan," stated Fujitsu.
Japan' information and communication technology major Fujitsu undertook a citizen conservation project that used GPS mobile phone cameras to map the spread of dandelion plants in Japan.
Modeled as a photo survey, Fujitsu asked its employees and their families to take photos of dandelion flowers in their locality. The company collected about 1,400 graphic dandelion data sets in February 2011.
Since the employee participants were so enthusiastic to take part in the photo survey as they found it an opportunity "to enjoy time with their families while being closer to nature," the company opened the survey for the participation of all citizens.
The project: "Let's Make a Nationwide Dandelion Front Map Together!" had two objectives. "One was to investigate the position of dandelions in the biosphere and the effects of global warming by mapping the dandelion fronts nationwide. The other was to bring people closer to nature and so spread awareness of the importance of biodiversity among as many people as possible." From the new start in February 2011 through the following June, the company gathered a total of some 9,700 graphic data sets on dandelions.
Accumulating photos of dandelions taken by mobile phones with GPS functions in a graphic database, Fujitsu used location information and mapping to view and analyze the data to produce a dandelion front map in Japan. "This success encouraged us to believe that a familiar plant like the dandelion could serve to increase interest in biodiversity throughout
Japan," stated Fujitsu.