Walk in the woods – citizen science for forests

Have you ever felt more ‘fresh’ under a tree during hot days in summer? Or the peaceful feeling when walking through the forest and listening to its ‘songs’? Or just admiring the diverse colors of the leaves during autumn? Forests are an essential part of our lives, even when we don't notice. 

These different beneficial aspects that forests can bring to our daily lives may pass unnoticed, but they are connected with many other major ecosystem services provided by forests. For instance, there is scientific evidence showing ‘cooling’ effects of forested areas, when compared with areas without forest coverage. We also know that preserving forest ecosystems are key for the survival of many species. However, forest ecosystems have never faced such an immediate threat: the strong modification of our landscapes due to human activities together with the effects of climate change is causing devastating effects on our Planet’s forests. 

Such changes directly affect our society, and action towards the conservation of forest ecosystems is a key environmental agenda. But in order to make change possible, we need all onboard. We invite all of you to be connected with the forest again.

Event description

Join us for a walk in the forest near your home betweenMay 16 and May 22, and share your opinion about the value of forests and your concerns, wishes and expectations for future forest management in a short online survey. The results from the survey will be presented to the European Commission in the course of the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 – so take this unique chance to make your voice heard by decision makers at the highest level!

And the best is yet to come: By participating in this survey you are not limiting yourself to questions and answers, but take part in an EU-wide citizen science campaign for the future of our forests.

By uploading a geotagged image of the forest near you, you will help build an image database that can be used by scientists to address some of the urgent challenges that Europe’s forests are facing. For example, ongoing research includes applications that use artificial intelligence to assess fire risk, biodiversity metrics, or forest health based on forest photos.

So how does it work? 

Below are the links to the survey to be completed the survey by May 22. You are invited to take a walk in the woods near your home one day this week and answer the questions in the survey (during or after the walk). Please be sure to also take a photo of the forest during your walk, with location information enabled in your smartphone’s camera settings. You will be prompted to upload the photo directly in the form at the end of the survey. Please note that participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous.

Links to survey:

English: https://formfaca.de/sm/kZ2iv31Fw

French: https://formfaca.de/sm/9b3T5e1f6

Spanish: https://formfaca.de/sm/013bgxO5-

Italian: https://formfaca.de/sm/sY5ZyUwFK

German: https://formfaca.de/sm/sa4s-2zjL

Polish: https://formfaca.de/sm/8N0kplWtt