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Title: Citizen science as a valuable tool for environmental review
Human development and population growth are placing immense pressure on natural ecosystems, necessitating the establishment of a balance between development and biodiversity preservation. Citizen science may serve as a valuable resource for monitoring biodiversity and informing decision‐making processes, but its use has not been investigated within the realm of environmental review. We sought to quantify the extent to which citizen science data are currently being used, mentioned, or suggested in environmental impact statements (EISs) by analyzing more than 1300 EISs produced under the US National Environmental Policy Act. Among the sampled EISs, we found increasing incorporation of citizen science within the environmental review process, with 40% of EISs in 2022 using, mentioning, or suggesting use of such information, as compared with just 3% in 2012. Citizen science offers substantial potential to enhance biodiversity monitoring and conservation efforts within environmental review, but numerous considerations must be broadly discussed before citizen science data can be widely adopted.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1831551
PAR ID:
10563545
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Periodicals LLC
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
ISSN:
1540-9295
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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