BioBlitz Inspires Canadians to Connect with Nature

The Big Backyard BioBlitz unites thousands of people across Canada in a collective community effort to celebrate and document the diverse species across our beautiful country.

Bioblitzes – a community-led gathering of information about species in a certain area held over a certain length of time – occur around the world. These community science events have led to the documentation of rare or endangered species in many countries, including Canada. By documenting the natural world and sharing these observations to a global database, anyone can give back to nature.

Our collective observations can grow our knowledge of native species’ distributions and help conservationists target areas to eradicate invasive species. These efforts may help conservation efforts to restore the balance and health of our local ecosystems.

Backyard BioBlitz 2022 Recorded More Observations Than Ever!

In communities from coast to coast, volunteers recorded the largest number of observations and species since the program began in 2020! Participants of all ages recorded 53,003 observations of various plant and animals were made, and a total of 5,323 species in all. That’s over 15,000 more observations and 4,000 more species than last year!

The Big Backyard BioBlitz is not only an incredible collective community effort to document nature, it’s a growing initiative to inspire people across the country to learn more about the natural world around them.

Each year, participants make new discoveries as they learn more about the species around them, while enjoying time with their families and friends.

Most frequent species documented

Monarch (Photo by Mary Gartshore)

1. Monarch Butterfly

Common Milkweed (Photo by G-Nicoll)

2. Common Milkweed

Wild carrot (Photo by Jonathan Mack)

3. Wild Carrot

Most frequent species at risk observed

Monarch (Photo by Mary Gartshore)

1. Monarch Butterfly

Northern leopard frog (Photo by NCC)

2. Northern Leopard Frog

Most frequently introduced / invasive species observed

Wild carrot (Photo by Jonathan Mack)

1. Wild Carrot

European honeybee (Photo by Reiner Jakubowski)

2. European Honey Bee
(Apis Mellifera)

Creeping thistle (Photo by S Brian Treelife)

3. Creeping Thistle

What our participants had to say

“NCC is a wonderful group of dedicated nature enthusiasts, and their BioBlitz events never disappoint! My family loves the range of tips, tricks, and kids' activities they provide to help set you up for success in nature!”
Sarah Blenis, New Brunswick

“A great activity to discover what flora and fauna are around my property. Even my family were out helping me find new animals to take pictures of. I found so many new animals and plants that I didn’t know were in my backyard. A very fun learning experience.”
Janet Fenton, Ontario

“It was a great experience, lots of fun actually! We (my friends and I) went for a quad ride and looked for things that we knew and also for things we needed help with. It was absolutely amazing how quickly other naturalists identified the items I had photographed. We were shocked to learn that what we thought was a carpenter ant was actually a wasp. Once it was identified, we looked it up and we’re able to learn everything we needed to know about the insect. I would highly recommend joining this BioBlitz next year. I know I will definitely do it again!”
Barb Bobychuck, Manitoba

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