Who collects?

Anyone!  There is a diversity of collectors with varying backgrounds and interests. Maybe you are interested in invasive garden weeds and want to document what is in Vancouver’s community gardens, maybe you are a contractor who finds yourself in remote areas of British Columbia or Canada, or you are someone who wants to document what you find in your own ‘Backyard Biodiversity’. A collector is someone who finds a new observation, whether it is a colour variety, range extension, and a new habitat that has not been previously documented. What matters is that a collector must be curious, interested, and enthusiastic!

Before you collect, consider conservation– Always remember before you collect to ask these three simple questions:

• Do I see 20 individuals? 1 in 20 rule: Only collect if you see more than 20 individuals blooming.

• Is this an important food source for birds and animals? Make sure you only take a few flowers or fruits for identification. Remember this is food for wildlife.

• Am I disturbing the habitat to get this collection? This is particularly important in sensitive habitats (example: high alpine meadows). If you are disturbing nature to document nature, you might want to re-think about ‘alternative’ ways to make a collection (see below).

Do not to collect: species that are considered rare, endangered, threatened. You can confirm species status in the Province by checking the Conservation Data Center for British Columbia. 

When you can collect all you want: Exotics and Invasives! You can confirm species with the The Invasive Species Council of British Columbia.

Alternative ways to collect: Take a photo and GPS coordinate and post on iNaturalist.