Schleswig-Holstein Magazine presents The Blütenbunt Insektenreich Project: An app to identify insects

The "Flowering Insect Kingdom" (Blütenbunt Insektenreich) project’s aim is supporting flower-visiting insects by creating suitable habitats. The joint project of the Schleswig-Holstein Nature Conservation Foundation, the German Association for Landscape Conservation (DVL) and the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) relies on a mix of school education, citizen science and general public relations work to improve the interested community's understanding of nature and knowledge of species.

Part of the project involves students using the ObsIdentify app to identify insects. The goal: finding as many different insect species as possible, photograph them and upload them to the app. If the photo is good enough, the app's AI suggests a species. In unclear cases experts will later check the accuracy of the information. Project manager Katrin Schöps from the IPN states that the aim is to introduce students to the topic of insects, which they often know little about.