WILD SPOTTERTM – Empowering People in Communities Against Invasive Alien Species to Protect Native Biodiversity in Wild Places.

In 2017 a public/private collaboration known as “Wild Spotter^TM” was established to expand the operational capacity to address the loss of biodiversity and slow the ecosystem degradation from the harmful effects of aquatic and terrestrial invasive alien species (IAS).  In part, the Wild Spotter program includes a citizen science component coupled with technology for identifying and locating/reporting invasions with high-accuracy, and related biodiversity impacts.  It is structured to advance and strengthen community engagement, expand partnerships, broaden environmental education and awareness, and build capacity for local action.   It is highly scalable and initially focused on protected natural areas, special designation areas (such as wilderness or wild & scenic rivers), and research natural areas to address IAS impacts to the environment and economies.  But by 2019 the use of the Wild Spotter program expanded globally, requiring several technical design changes and broadening all program components and functionality.  Wild Spotter participants and partners also highlighted the need for a community organizer training component.  In response, the “Wild Spotter Ambassadors Training” was added in 2023.  Prospective Ambassadors are selected through a formal application process.  The first class of Ambassadors hailed from the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Canada, New Zealand, and three Indigenous Nations in North America.  Since then, dozens of people across four continents have become certified Ambassadors.  The curriculum doesn’t focus on IAS control or management techniques, but rather trainees gain advanced skills for expanding non-traditional partnerships and promoting co-design decision-making, sourcing project funding and material support, bettering volunteer recruitment and oversight, improving relationships between public and private sectors, and boosting communication and marketing networks for environmental action.  Each year, the program complements and promotes the goals of “Invasives Free” initiatives around the world; emphasizing grass-roots action, monitoring, co-design and community engagement to protect and restore the health and functionality of native ecosystems and related biodiversity in any area.  Wild Spotter continues to help advance community involvement against IAS threats and improve collaborative stewardship of public and private lands with the help of trained Ambassadors, increasing the number of community partnerships supporting biodiversity and a ‘one-health’ approach to conservation.