iNaturalist and biodiversity at Singita Lebombo

Social media and Artificial Intelligence - two big buzzwords that everyone seems to be talking about these days. Love them or hate them, there is no denying that social media and AI have a massive impact on how we live and interact with the world. We have already seen this with platforms like Facebook and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. But quietly making waves in its own way is a lesser-known platform called iNaturalist. It is an amazing tool that connects curious nature lovers and brings together scientists, experts, and everyday people like us to learn about biodiversity. Plus, it is providing valuable data for science and conservation work.

iNaturalist describes itself as many things, but at its heart, it is “an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature.” The idea is simple: anyone, anywhere, can snap a photo of any living thing, upload it to the platform, and share it with others. But what makes it so powerful are a few key features. Firstly, a super smart AI analyses your photo to help identify the species; secondly a huge community of experts and enthusiasts can confirm the ID, suggest corrections, and discuss findings; and thirdly once a species is confirmed, the observation becomes research-grade data that scientists can use for studies and conservation projects.

So, why am I talking about a social media platform on Singita’s blog? Well, our guiding team at Singita Lebombo discovered iNaturalist this year, and we have been blown away by how useful it is. I could not wait to share it with you!

We started using iNaturalist in 2024, snapping photos of anything that caught our eye or left us stumped, and then uploading them to the platform. It has been a game-changer for helping us understand more about subjects, like wildflowers. We even created a “project” to gather all the observations made within the boundaries of our concession, and what we’ve learned has been incredible.

Since starting the project, we’ve logged an impressive 3 805 observations from 148 contributors, covering over 1 100 species. To put that in perspective, the Kruger National Park’s iNaturalist project has recorded 4 717 species so far. That means in our tiny concession (less than 1% of the park’s total area) we’ve documented just over 22% of the species recorded in the entire park. Pretty cool, right?

Of course, while these numbers are amazing, they’re only based on what’s been observed and uploaded to iNaturalist. The actual number of species in the park and our concession is definitely much higher. And honestly, that just makes it even more exciting because there’s so much more to discover.

Back to the idea that “social media and AI can change the world” iNaturalist shows how that can happen in a really positive way. In Kruger National Park, it’s helping everyday visitors contribute to research just by sharing what they see. That one photo might feel like a small thing, but when you look at the bigger picture with 131 298 observations of 4 717 species in the park, you can see how all those little contributions add up. They’re helping guide conservation efforts and protect these incredible wild places for the future.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in how these advancements close the gap between scientists and everyday people - it is allowing us to all work together to contribute to an ultimate goal, and you can help too… The next time you find yourself in nature weather it is at a Singita lodge or the park close to your home you’ll be amazed at the diversity around you when you visit the iNaturalist website.