Seinäjoki’s crowdsourced invasive species control will start at the beginning of June. Invasive species are plants and animals that spread to new areas with human assistance and displace native species. Harmful invasive species weaken biodiversity and can cause significant costs in environmental management.
The Crowdsorsa invasive-species game offers citizens the opportunity to participate in concrete volunteer work for their local nature and receive rewards for the work they do.
This growing season the species targeted for control in Seinäjoki are giant balsam and lupine. In particular, we are encouraging the removal of giant balsam this year with higher-than-usual rewards. The task is started well before the plants reach the seeding stage so that control is as effective as possible.
– The game is being used here for the first time this summer and we hope many will take part in controlling lupine and giant balsam through it. We will consider next summer based on this year’s experience, says environmental protection inspector Aili Sorjanen.
How the control works
The player searches for invasive plants on the app’s map within the game area. Especially in early summer, at the start of the growing season, recognizing plants by their leaves is important because the showy flowers appear later in the summer.
When they find a suitable occurrence, the player records a video of the area by walking around it. After removing all the invasive plants in that occurrence, they walk the same area again and record a video of the results. A red plant icon appears on the map to mark the area that has just been cleared.
An area that has already been cleared can be retreated as soon as the plant icon marking the occurrence on the game map has changed from red to green. This happens about two weeks after the first control.
Videos must be uploaded for Crowdsorsa’s quality control review within three days (72 hours). After that, videos that have not been uploaded are automatically rejected. Rewards are paid for accepted submissions, and the payment can be requested from the app to the player’s bank account.
– Last year, participants in invasive species tasks, about one third of whom were young people, cleared invasive species from over 2.8 million square metres in Finland. That’s an incredible achievement. I believe we can reach a new record again this summer, says Crowdsorsa CEO Toni Paju.
Updated app makes control even more effective
The Crowdsorsa mobile game has been developed to be more user-friendly based on feedback from players as well as municipalities and cities.
For example, re-treatment of plants has been simplified: when 50 percent of the reward budget has been used, the game area will be limited to covering only already treated sites. At that stage, new sites can no longer be marked on the map. Re-treatment ensures that invasive species are removed from areas as thoroughly as possible.
Instructions have been improved with visuals, including clear image cards. In addition, each task includes a short test questionnaire to ensure that species identification and the basic principles of control are clear to the user. The test can be completed as soon as the local task is published in the app.
A total of 4,000 euros in rewards available
This summer in Seinäjoki a total of 4,000 euros in rewards is available to game participants. Players can earn up to 20 euros per hour. The reward amount is determined automatically based on the area, density and species of the occurrence. In addition, the local game map may include bonus areas that pay a higher compensation for control.
Game time is available until the end of August or until the local reward budget runs out, and the progress of the control can be followed in the app.
Harmful invasive species that threaten biodiversity are being controlled this summer with Crowdsorsa in over 80 municipalities and cities in Finland. The game is also in use in Sweden and Canada.
https://www.crowdsorsa.com/
Contact information
Aili Sorjanen, environmental protection inspector, City of Seinäjoki, 050 581 1694
Toni Paju, CEO Crowdsorsa, 040 661 0072