With support from the WikiCred initiative, the Africa Open Biodiversity project is intended to promote the documentation of African biodiversity on Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. The campaign aims to advocate and support current biodiversity conservation efforts while bridging the knowledge gap about African content on Wikimedia projects.
Biodiversity loss is a global concern, but it is particularly relevant in Africa, home to an incredibly diverse range of plant and animal species. This campaign is significant because Africa’s biodiversity continues declining, with ongoing species and habitat losses. This decline has significant implications for human well-being and the ecosystem services that support life on Earth.
By documenting African biodiversity on Wikimedia projects, the campaign seeks to promote the quality, reliability, and credibility of Wikipedia articles and attract and connect readers to these articles.
One of the ways the campaign hopes to achieve this goal is through a photography contest that will capture photographs/videos of plant and animal species on the African continent. These photographs could lead to the discovery of new species and help improve Wikipedia articles where relevant and necessary. Additionally, the project would add visualization to the biodiversity of the African continent, promoting the principles of Open science in Africa.
The Africa Open Biodiversity Campaign is relevant to credibility and Wikipedia because it seeks to promote trustworthy and accurate information. Any written, audio, or visual information should be credible, and the project aims to achieve this by providing readily available pictures and videos to complement the text. By doing so, the project would promote the credibility of African biodiversity on Wikipedia, as articles containing images are more likely to be read and regarded as reliable.
The campaign is essential to promoting the documentation and preservation of African biodiversity. The project aims to engage existing volunteers as well as to attract new ones. We hope this project will help create a community of people who care about African biodiversity and are willing to do their part to protect it.
You can register for the campaign below:
