Points to remember
- From a distance, in your own backyard or when you’re in the Mont Blanc massif, you can help provide the researchers with the data they need to complete their analyses.
- Phenoclim and Wild Mont-Blanc are two programmes currently underway.
Citizen Science : Become an observer
Uniting science and society, CREA Mont-Blanc gets to work involving citizens in every stage of the building and sharing of knowledge. Its approach is to promote wonder as a means of discovering the scientific method and critical thinking. A pioneer in participative science programmes, CREA Mont-Blanc brings together a network of observers and enthusiastic volunteers, each actively contributing to scientific research and benefitting from contact with researchers.
Wild Mont-Blanc : all of the fauna straight from your sofa
Wild Mont-Blanc, a participative platform
The Citizen Science program Wild Mont-Blanc, invites participants to identify the animals present in the large collection of photos taken by our equipment across the Mont Blanc massif. This offers the opportunity to observe iconic Alpine species such as chamois, ibex, marmot, mountain hare, stag, rock ptarmigan, and black grouse throughout the year, under differing climatic conditions, and across altitudes reaching high mountain environments. Wild Mont-Blanc allows the scientists of CREA Mont-Blanc to gain insight into how these organisms adapt to significant changes in their environment. This is achieved through analysis of the species’ movement patterns, activity rates, feeding behaviours and moulting dates.
Découvrir Wild Mont-Blanc ➞Phenoclim : tracking the flora in your garden or workplace
Local high school students examine the trees in Vallorcine as part of the Phénoclim programme © S.Pozzi
The Citizen Science program Phenoclim studies the effects of climate change on the seasonal cycles of 13 different mountain plant species. With an impressive 40,000 donations already obtained by the ‘Phéno-climbers’, CREA Mont-Blanc has been able to publish several scientific articles and a thesis. If you reside in the Alps, the Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura or Vosges, you have the opportunity to contribute with no prior scientific experience or naturalist expertise required.
Learn more about Phenoclim ➞Contact Fauna : observations posted online
The Mont-Blanc Geonature Atlas
The Contact Faune programme is set to be further developed on a large scale. It involves the signalling of species present, primarily animals, seen by participants when sporadically traversing the Mont Blanc massif. At present, this programme is exclusively open to a select group of naturalist volunteers in regular collaboration with CREA Mont-Blanc. on the site dedicated to these studies.