Biodiversity Marathons are outreach programmes and bioblitz events conducted by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (a centre of Tata Instiute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai), and Indian Foundation for Butterflies, Bengaluru. These are biodiversity information data marathons (no actual running involved!) that link scientists, naturalists, photographers and other citizens who study, observe, photograph and care about nature and biodiversity, and who want to help generate biodiversity information in India. This feeds into the Biodiversity Atlas – India's family of natural history websites that serve a powerful platform for citizen-contributed information on Indian biodiversity.
We try to bring these groups together to train a broad range of contributors and users who strengthen web and other online resources for biodiversity documentation and monitoring in India. We usually begin with a morning walk, led by experienced naturalists, to watch and photograph butterflies, plants, birds and other fun stuff in a wilderness area. In the late morning and afternoon, we begin an indoor session with an introduction to this citizen science project. We then break into smaller groups where editors, reviewers and advanced users of the websites on butterflies, moths, reptiles, birds, etc., demonstrate strengths and promises of these websites and help attendees upload their images on the websites. These are great gatherings where people have an unparalleled opportunity to interact with leading scientists and experienced naturalists, learn about flora and fauna, and contribute to the growth of biodiversity sciences in India.
We travel from city to city every few months. Learn about the upcoming events and meetings on the Facebook page of Biodiversity Atlas – India. You can email us if you want to host a Biodiversity Marathon in your town, city or a nearby wilderness area.
Read more on Biodiversity Marathon's main page.