Educational practice of citizen science with ICT for biodiversity conservation through domestic and international collaboration

Citizen science using information and communication technology (ICT) as an effective method to solve the global biodiversity crisis has made remarkable progress in Europe and the US. However, there are very few practical examples in Japan. Therefore, in this study, we developed and implemented three citizen science projects that contribute to the conservation of biodiversity in Japan in collaboration with various organizations and citizens in Japan and abroad. The three projects are: 1) continental-level species diversity through international collaboration using the Web and AI, 2) survey of invasive alien plants in rivers using a versatile smartphone app, and 3) flood prevention through citizen collaboration using green infrastructure (functions possessed by ecosystems) targeting urban areas in a watershed. These projects were developed and put into practice, and the results obtained were analyzed, evaluated, and published.