Biodiversity and national parks: What’s relevance got to do with it?

One needs only see the light of dis
covery in a child’s eyes at a park bioblitz
to become a believer in the value of living
nature. Such transformative experiences of discovery can be tightly coupled with
the diversity of life that has been entrusted
to the National Park Service.

We suggest that public education and
involvement in biodiversity discovery at
our national parks are vital to conserving
our national biodiversity for the future.
Biodiversity discovery in national parks, for
example via a public bioblitz, has proven to
generate transformative visitor experiences
that both educate and inspire through
direct public involvement in the discov
ery of living organisms in the parks, of
which it is estimated that 80–90% remain
unknown.



Because biodiversity discovery
activities often require only excited minds
and willing hands, they appeal to children
and nonscientists as much as they do to
experts in the subject matter.



http://www.nature.nps.gov/ParkScience/Archive/PDF/Article_PDFs/ParkScience31(1)SpecialIssue2014_14-16_Plumb_et_al_3776.pdf



Also see:

http://www.nature.nps.gov/ParkScience/Archive/PDF/Article_PDFs/ParkScience31(1)SpecialIssue2014_50-57_Interviews_3790.pdf