Ukrainians change science during the war: anyone can join – views

This material is an invitation to join the largest bioblitsa in the history of Ukraine – Mass natural action, during which participants photograph and document plants, animals, mushrooms and other living organisms.

From May 19 to June 8, you can become a researcher by fixing life around your smartphone. At the same time, it is part of a community that creates a new Ukrainian science during the war simply on the streets, fields and yards of their own homes.

Over the world, observation of nature during walks of ordinary people is strongly related to science. Amateur observations from their own yard to the most inaccessible corners of wildlife become part of an official study of life on Earth. At the same time, the science itself gradually turns into a kind of gambling.

In this text, we will tell you what civic science is and invite you to join the greatest competitions of observers by nature in the history of Ukraine in the history of Ukraine.

What is civic science and why is it important

Civic science is when ordinary people, not just scientists, are joined in the collection of reliable knowledge. For example, people take pictures of natural or historical objects that see around them and download pictures into special mobile applications. To make scientific observation – neither diploma nor special devices are required. Enough phone and desire to look around.

By taking a regular photo, the user immediately creates a potentially invaluable source of knowledge. After all, the application itself adds to the image the date, time, coordinates and more. And here – the inquisitive schoolboy or the casual traveler already becomes the author of scientific data!

Further, at their level, experts process such amateur information, identify them correctly, and incredible synergy arises. For scientists, the observer becomes an invaluable helper – eyes and hands that help to study nature or historical heritage in distant places, to which the scientist is not always able to reach.

Of course, in this story it is easy to surrender from the beginning if you begin to underestimate the world around. When we live in our home and go to work or study every day – the world around no longer seems unique and interesting, everything seems ordinary. But in fact, the usual photo of a flower on the side of the road, a butterfly that came to light, or feathers lost on the asphalt, is a really interesting and important information about the living world. Let’s imagine how interesting it will become for you if you find 50-60 different plants in your yard than at the beginning, when you only photographs the first of them!

By the way, using this application, you can even gradually understand the one who lives and what grows where you live. For example, you will never get lost with such opportunities when the baby asks what the bird is called.

The most common tool for amateur observation of nature has become Inaturalist – a platform that combines the mobile application and a global base of biological observations.

In Ukraine, it has been used in mass from 2022, when the gap between people and wildlife suddenly declined due to internal migration and restrictions on movement. Now Ukrainian communityattached to such a useful leisure, is already more than 11,000 users.

Inaturalist in Ukrainian: numbers that are striking

Observations of Ukrainians are already used in the reports of the intergovernmental platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES), as well as included in the GBIF global database used by scientists, environmental organizations and governments of more than 100 countries.

The first scientific publications based on the observations of Ukrainians through Inaturalist have already been published in reviewed publications. These data also formed the basis of security justifications for the creation of new reserves in several regions of Ukraine, in particular in Polissya and in the Northern Black Sea.

At the time of writing the article Ukrainian users Inaturalist downloaded almost 1.5 million observations (Detailed statistics here). This is more than all our university herbariums, collections and archives combined.

Now Ukraine – in the world in the world in terms of observations and in the 13th place in terms of active users. As of May 2025 – over 11,000 userswho have added observations with all 25 regions of Ukraineincluding frontier and temporarily occupied. The number of new observations is increasing on a monthly basis, and the activity of users remains stable even during massive attacks or blackouts.

Over 9800 species of animals, 4900 plant species and 2800 mushrooms and lichens already defined. About 70% of observations are confirmed by the community as research, that is, scientifically reliable.

When you start a conversation about statistics, they also have thoughts about excitement. Finding the first dozen insects while resting in the country, you already want to try to find more. Even more irresistibly gambling is manifested when you communicate with other applications. And the more experienced they are – the more you want to try to « catch up » them.

Photo: Natalia Matushkin

Bioblits as a sports version of science

For such gambling (and for anyone who is just ready to support a good idea), biobulic is invented.

Bioblitz – This is an event during which everyone lives around them in a certain period: plants, animals, mushrooms. In particular, from May 19 to June 8, 2025 in all regions of Ukraine will be held The first nationwide bioblits.

For the first time, even government agencies (including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education), as well as the Czech Agency for Nature Conservation, have joined the event in Ukraine. What will be the statistics after the competition days are not known, but there is every chance that the event will be the most mass event in the history of Ukrainian civic science. Even before the event, it is known that whole schools, universities and even servicemen of the Armed Forces will join it.

Rules of participation – for by reference.

Previous bioblyts and international experience

Ukraine already has experience of participation in biooblits. In 2022, the Ukrainians first joined the City Nature Challenge (CNC) – Global competition of cities. Despite the full -scale invasion, local projects were created in Kiev, Lviv, Khmelnitsky and Nikolaev. And even in the war, hundreds of people have added to the international rating of our country.

In August 2022, a special bioblitz was organized before Independence Day, which covered more than 260 participants from all over the world and gave more than 13,500 observations.

Interestingly, the surge of such an interesting activity came to a full -scale invasion. On the one hand, observation of nature is good rehabilitation in conditions of constant stress. On the other hand, it is one way to demonstrate the enemy that our lives have not stopped, and the world outside the window of every Ukrainian did not stop being interesting and beautiful.

Why is it all?

In addition to the useful knowledge of knowledge, amateur observations of nature can help the study of the losses caused by war and changes in the nature that occurred through hostilities. Inatralist allows you to see that it grows near your village, which birds appeared after a fire, as the landscape changes in frontline areas. This is the science we do, where we live.

If scientists do not visit us, then we will be able to visit them with our observations. And even if you do not have any publication, and your name will not appear in any journal – it is no less important in science than the professor.

And this is also a way to be part of something more. Because when you download a photo of a flower from Mykolaiv region, it is seen by a botanist from Canada. And when he defines it, your photo gets into global databases. The rare species of animals and plants found will be likely to help keep your favorite place from felling or buildings – as it has already happened, for example, in the Zhytomyr region, where observations in Inatralist confirmed the presence of rare species and have become the basis for refusing to build a recreational zone.

For example, now the Ukrainian nature conservation group He calls tourists Take photos of plants and animals in the meadows to keep the Carpathians from building winds and deforestation.

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So we invite you – register in inaturalist, install the application, and between May 19 and June 8 go out for a walk. Although in the park, though in the field, though on the ruins of the plant. Everything living that surrounds you is not just a background. This is a clear confirmation that life lasts. And it is thanks to you that we can not just see it, but save it. It may be your photo that will be the basis for creating a reserve, or will be included in the textbooks. Because it is a story about a country that not only protects but also knows itself.

Science is not only formulas, tables and collections. These are also trails that ordinary people with smartphones go.

Photos provided by Natalia Matushkin

Alexei VasilyukUkrainian environmental group, especially for UP. Life

Publications in the « Look » are not editorial articles and reflect the author’s point of view.