Citizen science initiatives like Coastal Biodiversity of Chennai are raising awareness and rekindling public interest in the vast array of species that populate our beaches.
As published in Nature inFocus on 29 April, 2021. Read the full interview here.
A Plain Sand Star, a Girdled Horn Snail or an Asian Green Mussel; the next time you take a walk on the beaches of Chennai, breathing in the salty breeze, look around, and you might just find one of these at your feet. You may even come across something new altogether, and if you do, make sure to head straight to iNaturalist.org and share your sightings with the Coastal Biodiversity of Chennai group. So far, this community has managed to record over 300 species of flora and fauna that reside along the coast of the south Indian city and its neighbouring districts.
“People go to the beach and come back seeing nothing,” says writer, activist and educator M. Yuvan, one of the core team members of the group who are also part of the Madras Naturalists’ Society. “Barrenness is actually a state of mind. If people know the names of the various species, if they know what they are looking for, then these trips will mean a lot more,” he adds. Yuvan is joined by Rohith Srinivasan, Vikas Madhav, Nanditha Ram Satagopan, Aswathi Asokan and Anooja Anil in the Coastal Biodiversity of Chennai initiative which was launched in April 2020. Apart from sightings noted by citizens, the team also interacts with the local fisherfolk to include their knowledge in this ongoing project.
Read the complete article –> NatureinFocus.com.