Developing the global potential of citizen science: Assessing opportunities that benefit people, society and the environment in East Africa

Abstract

1. Citizen science is gaining increasing prominence as a tool for science and engagement. However, despite being a potentially valuable tool for sustainable development, citizen science has little visibility in many developing countries.2. We undertook a collaborative prioritisation process with experts in conservation and the environment to assess the potential of environmental citizen science in East Africa, including its opportunities, benefits and barriers. This provided principles that are applicable across developing countries, particularly for large-scale citizen science.3. We found that there was great potential for citizen science to add to our scientific knowledge of natural resources and biodiversity trends. Many of the important benefits of citizen science were for people, as well as the environment directly.Major barriers to citizen science were mostly social and institutional, although projects should also consider access to suitable technology and language barriers. 4. Policy implications. Citizen science can provide data to support decision-making and reporting against international targets. Participation can also provide societal benefits, informing and empowering people, thus supporting the United Nations'This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Citizen science in developing countries: how to improve volunteer participation

“…; Pocock et al . ). We have demonstrated that the establishment of the NBC, which included provincial coordinators, was a key contributor to data collection about honey bee colony losses in Argentina.…”

“…Although there is a general desire to foster citizen science in developing countries (Pocock et al . ) with a view to establishing international and global projects (Chandler et al . ), the techniques used to collect data through citizen‐science initiatives in developed countries may not work in developing countries (Danielsen et al .…”

“…; Pocock et al . ). It has been suggested that limited networking, organizational, and collaboration capacities are the most common factors that slow the implementation of large‐scale citizen‐science programs in developing countries (Conrad and Hilchey ; Maggi et al .…”

“…; Pocock et al . ), especially in Africa and Latin America (Figure a). Indeed, most citizen‐science programs have been developed and conducted in countries that have a high human development index (HDI; Figure b).…”

“…; Pocock et al . ), there is a critical lack of field assessment on how to improve participation and establish citizen‐science programs in developing countries.…”