Butterfly Citizen Science Projects Support Conservation Activities among their Volunteers

Citizen science has the potential to provide participants with information about conservation issues and to encourage additional conservation actions. In this case study, we describe the current state of conservation education among butterfly citizen science projects in the United States. To determine the extent to which these citizen science projects are promoting an understanding of, and engagement in, conservation among their participants, we used an online questionnaire to census project leaders and assessed their websites for the presence of educational conservation information. We found that the majority (91%, n = 22) of butterfly citizen science projects in the United States include a conservation focus, and that they are educating their participants about key conservation threats and action strategies. Many are also using personal appeals, behavioral incentives, and the social interactions among participants to encourage their participants to engage in butterfly conservation outside the project. We found room for improvement on educating participants, especially about indirect conservation opportunities such as financial donations and outreach activities. We also suggest more widespread and effective use of project websites to disseminate conservation information.