HISTORY
Established in 2020 during the global pandemic by a group of bioblitz enthusiasts in Australia, the first Great Southern Bioblitz (GSB)saw 12 countries and more than150 Local Government Areas(LGAs) participate with more than91,000 observations throughout the Southern Hemisphere using the iNaturalist app and website.

WHAT IS A BIOBLITZ?
A BioBlitz is a snapshot study of a specific location, where scientists and the community work together to survey and record as many species of flora, fauna, fungi and aquatic life within a nominated time frame (e.g. 96 hrs).

WE'RE WORLDWIDE
The #GSB23 will be held from Friday the 24th of November until the end of Monday on 27th  in your local time and incorporate different communities, areas and regions across the Southern Hemisphere. As we are international, in Spanish we are known as 'Gran Biobúsqueda del Sur', while in Portuguese we are known as 'Grande BioBlitz do Hemisfério Sul'.

OUR GOAL
The goal of the Great Southern Bioblitz is to provide a platform for groups, associations, local governments, and individuals to encourage engagement in citizen science across the southern hemisphere. Through the online platform iNaturalist, we hope to increase biodiversity awareness and encourage citizens to contribute to the understanding of their local biodiversity.

EVERYONE'S INVITED

WILL MY OBSERVATION COUNT?
Every observation you upload becomes a valuable data point representing an encounter with a species at a point in space and time. After your observations are identified, the data are piped into databases like the Atlas of Living Australia and the Global Biodiversity Facility where they can be used by scientists, schools and more for research.

FIND SOMETHING NEW WITH OUR GSB CHALLENGES:

• #5ONFRIDAY

Kick your GSB2021 observations off by taking five observations on Friday the 24th Nov.

• ​#MOTHNIGHT

On Saturday the 25th of Nov hang a white sheet up outside and shine a light on the sheet. Leave it up for an hour and snap some pictures of your winged visitors.

• #SHAKEATREE

On Sunday the 26th of Nov spread a white sheet under a tree. Give the tree a shake. What falls out? Great activity to do with kids big and small.

• #LISTENANDSEE

On Monday the 27th of Nov close your eyes. What can you hear? Upload an audio sighting. Grab a pair of binoculars or a magnifying glass. What can you see? Upload something you've never seen before as well as something you have.

• #ATTENDLOCAL

Anytime through out the 24th-27th attend one local bioblitz to meet like-minded, passionate people and report something new

#GSB2023  #GREATSOUTHERNBIOBLITZ

Participant Guide
The goal of the Great Southern Bioblitz is to provide a platform for groups, associations and individuals to encourage engagement in citizen science across the southern hemisphere. Through the online platform iNaturalist, we hope to increase biodiversity awareness and encourage citizens to contribute to the understanding of where plants, animals and fungi occur in their distribution.
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​​All you need to do to contribute is to download the iNaturalist application to your handheld device or make an account on your computer and make observations over the collection period 22-25th October 2021. You will then need to upload to iNaturalist, you will have 14 days to upload and identify your observations (until 8th November). Please use your 'local node' to make observations.  Don't worry if you cant identify the organism just make sure you get some good clear photos or sounds (see below).  There will be a period to identify the observations following the "Bioblitz", just remember to level the ID at the highest level. Because iNaturalist is an emerging and popular nature apps, with artificial intelligence built in to help identify the biodiversity around you. The platform connects you with over 1, 200, 000 scientists and naturalists globally each with their own interests and skill level. Fortunately, the platform has many online resources to help you get to know your way around the system including those below.
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​iNaturalist Video Tutorials

• Adding an Observation on a Mobile Device
• Adding on Observation via the Web
• How to Take Identifiable Photos
• How to Use the Identify Page
• Geotagging DSLR Photos in the Field
• Duplicating an Observation
• Adding a photo or sound to an Observation
• Exploring Observations on the Web

The ‘Great Southern BioBlitz’, or ‘GSB’ for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.

Known as 'Gran Biobúsqueda del Sur’ in Spanish, while in Portuguese it's ‘Grande BioBlitz do Hemisfério Sul’.

The purpose of this event is to highlight both the immense biodiversity spread across the Southern Hemisphere in the flourishing springtime, as well as to engage the greater public in science and nature learning.

By the end of October, the natural world is on full throttle. Flowers are blooming, insects are emerging, birds are singing, and reptiles are coming out of their winter hibernation. It makes sense for us to observe life at this time of year!

#GSB21 will be held from Friday the 22nd of October until the end of Monday on the 25th of October, incorporating different communities, areas and regions across the Southern Hemisphere.

To find out more information about this event, check out Great Southern Bioblitz website

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook (@GSBioblitz) and Instagram (gsbioblitz)
GSBioblitz - on Facebook
GSBioblitz - on Twitter
GSBioblitz - on Instagram

Increasing biodiversity awareness through Citizen Science

​And use the following # on social media:
#GSB21 #GreatSouthernBioBlitz #GrandeBioblitzdoHemisferioSul #GranBiobusquedadelSur

Previous events
Great Southern Bioblitz 2020 Umbrella
Great Southern Bioblitz 2021 Umbrella
Great Southern Bioblitz 2022 Umbrella