The YES BioBlitz 2026

Welcome to the 2026 YES BioBlitz

You can sign up here  YESBioBlitz2026 under the community menu.  

(When you are logged-in to iNaturalist. )

Why join?

This is a valuable community science event which collects data, which supports research and policy maker to protect our environment.  Check out how your data makes a difference here. It is also a great opportunity to develop a local community of people who understand and care for the environment.

When?

Practise starts now!  This event lines up with the City Nature Challenge across Canada and is on:

April 24th – April 27th Take pictures of wild fungi, plants and animals.

April 28th– May 3rd       Upload and identify the species in iNaturalist.

Results will be announced by May 15th.

With whom?

You can do this on your own, with your outdoor classes, or join other you can teach or learn from.   You have a friendly community of online iNaters who are so helpful, if somewhat overwhelmed at this time of year.  Join us at:

  • Saturday April 25th, 10 am – 1 pm Holland Creek Trail walk with a naturalist guide and check out the fish traps in the creek with your kids.  Hosted by Friends of Holland Creek.  Meet up at the trail head on Dogwood drive for 10 am, Saturday April 25th.  Bring your phones and kids and waterproof them.
  • Saturday April 25, 5 pm – 7pm,  Tidal zone walk led by Rick Harbo and hosted by YES.  Meet up at 5066 Brenton Page Rd for 5pm start.  Wear suitable shoes for intertidal walking. Bring warm clothes, appies and drinks if you would like to stay for a sunset social on the dock.
  • Sunday April 26, 10 am – 1 pm,  Hemer Park Camas Meadow tour of our restoration pilot plots, bioblitz the project, and help with the VIU student vegetation survey.  Meet up at the end of Morland Road at the Hemer park entrance for a 10am start.  Wear sturdy shoes, bring your phones with iNaturalist loaded. 
  • Sunday April 26, 2 pm – 4 pm, Cable Bay Trail walk led by Jain Alcock White of Champagne Hill Botanical.  Meet up at Cable Bay trailhead on Nicola Rd for 2 pm start.  Come ready to walk to Dodds Narrows along the trail.
  • Post bioblitz  iNaturalist Identification Party on Wednesday April 29th or May 6th for those who want to help us with identifying the observations which have been uploaded into iNaturalist. Location TBA.

What you need – and it’s all free

All you need to participate in the BioBlitz are: 

An iNaturalist account or app, which is free.

A smart phone or camera to capture the images or sounds.

A smart phone or computer to upload the images or sounds.

You can use the iNaturalist App or the webpage iNaturalist.ca.

Where to go?

The area for the Bioblitz is the same as 2025.  It includes Ladysmith, South Nanaimo, Cassidy, and our coastal waters to the east – see map below.  There are many public parks where you can explore, and there are reserves and private lands, where you need permission. NOTE: We do not have permission to enter the Woodley Range Ecological Reserve.

Only photos and sound recordings taken during the designated dates and times (6 AM on April 24th to 8 PM on April 27th) in our chosen geographical location will count towards our YES BioBlitz. Of course, everything entered in iNaturalist, year-round and in other places, is still valuable.  

How?

Check out the resources and links below and note the top tips this year.

  • Take good pictures – focus properly, fill the frame or crop the picture, take different views.
  • Fill the gaps in local knowledge – go to places or look for species others tend to overlook.
  • Make your data useable – make sure the location is recorded  and check that your license settings allows the data to be used.  iNaturlaist recommends using CC0, CC BY or CC BY-NC.  Licenses are located under the account settings, in contents and display.

Participate as a school group

There are many great resources on iNaturalist and on the internet on how to participate as a school group, how to take photos that can be identified, and how to use iNaturalist, or in some cases you should use Seek, which is a simpler app with more privacy controls and as educational.  

If you have questions please message us in iNaturalist or email us at yesbioblitz@gmail.com.  If you want to chat, let us have your phone number and we will call back. 

Useful links

Past bioblitzes

How to guides

Other projects in our area!

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Author: yellowpointecologicalsociety

We are a non-profit society. We work to understand, appreciate, protect and restore the ecosystems and watersheds in the Yellow Point area of Vancouver Island and to inspire and support local residents and visitors to do the same.

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