Anyone who is attuned to environmental issues knows that the Earth is suffering from a crisis of biodiversity, with plant, animal and insect species disappearing at a dizzying rate, due to human activity. While it might seem to you that there’s little you can do, due to the overwhelming nature of the crisis, the Clevland Museum of Natural History offers a way you can make a small but important difference.
Its ProtectCLE program aims to increase the knowledge base of Ohio habitats through “citizen science.” Like any good scientific program it asks people to be observers and report the actual things they see in the world, not on Fox “News.”
To participate, all you have to do is find one cubic foot of space to observe — in a park, schoolyard, vacant lot or even a puddle on a sidewalk. You then set up a biocube there to observe, catalog and photograph the species the spot contains including visitors such as squirrels. (The ProtectCLE page gives full instructions). Then post your images on the iNaturalist online datatbase.
“The Museum’s Natural Areas Division currently protects over 10,000 acres of land throughout Northeast Ohio,” CMNH explains. “ProtectCLE encourages local citizens to become stewards of preservation and conservation, ‘adding to the acreage’ of protected land in our community one cubic foot at a time.”
This could be a fun (and educational) project for your bored kids too! Go here for more information.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106