Image by QuestaGamer ‘Liz MacRaild’. (CC BY-NC 2.0).
QuestaGame, a popular outdoor citizen science nature gaming app, is inviting all Australians to discover the life of our nation’s iconic trees on 23 March. Gamers of all ages will be competing for prizes, and supporting research, on National Eucalypt Day as they either submit sightings of wild Eucalypts, or submit sightings of the variety life thriving in, on, or around these majestic trees.
“Eucalypts hold a special place in the hearts of Australians” says Bram Mason, CEO of Eucalypt Australia. “But it is not just humans who value and depend upon these trees. All kinds of birds, insects, mammals and even fungi live among the roots, trunks, branches and leaves. The National Eucalypt Day bioQuest offers a fantastic opportunity to engage with, learn about, and document this often hidden, yet beautiful, life.”
Anyone who submits an Australian Eucalypt related sighting through the QuestaGame app on 23 March will be in the running for a $50 voucher for the Australian National Botanic Garden’s Botanical Bookshop. All sightings will be verified by experts, providing players the opportunity to learn about what they have found. The final expert-verified data also supports conservation research through the Atlas of Living Australia.
“You never know when a really valuable sighting is going to show up”, says David Haynes, co-founder of QuestaGame. “It’s very exciting for players when they find the first record of a species, or come across new invasive species. We can’t protect our environment if we don’t know what exists within it, and a fun way to help is to get involved in a bioQuest like this.”
To join the National Eucalypt Day bioQuest download QuestaGame (free from Apple or Google app stores), and submit sightings with your mobile device. Why not explore the life living on Eucalypts in your local park or botanic gardens? And if you know your Eucalyptus from your Corymbia you can also help identify players’ sightings via QuestaGame’s Bio-Expertise Engine. Correct identifications will earn money for conservation partners such as Eucalypt Australia.
Although the bioQuest only runs for one day, your real life adventure into nature can continue with exciting and free bioQuests happening every month. Have fun and win prizes while doing your bit to help protect life on Earth.
For more information, visit questagame.com/ned-bioquest/, or follow #EucBioQuest.
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