Local participation in citizen science: Lessons learned and challenges from a community sentinel monitoring program in Southern Chile
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v68i.97219Keywords:
community science, monitoring, local conservationAbstract
The participation of local communities in research processes can be facilitated through citizen science initiatives. To strengthen conservation actions in relevant ecosystems, different methodologies of this discipline support the collaboration with local inhabitants in data generation and systematization. The objective of this work was to systematize the community monitoring experience and assess participants’ motivations and expectations. In the Humedales del Río Maullín Nature Sanctuary (SNHRM)––a relevant area for biocultural conservation––two participatory monitoring initiatives took place using the community sentinels methodology. This methodology is based on sharing information on biodiversity, memory, practices, uses, environmental changes, and cultural landscape relevant to communities, integrating local information and the recovery of traditional knowledge. The first monitoring node included the initial stretch of the Maullín river, between the communes of Llanquihue and Los Muermos (-41.26°S, -71.99°W), and the second the estuarine area of Amortajado-Maullín (-41.661°S, -73.684°W). The main results include the need to involve participants in actions that raise awareness and promote SNHRM conservation, with a total of 90 records, notably 27 on biodiversity and 33 on environmental threats. This information was shared through instant messaging groups and complemented by field activities: 11 in the Llanquihue - Los Muermos Node and nine in Amortajado.
References
Almonacid, J., & Araos, F. (2021). Confluencias del río Maullín: Modos de vida locales y conservación de la biodiversidad. LIDER, 23, 64–90. https://doi.org/10.32735/S0719-5265202138329
Anbleyth-Evans, J., Prieto, M., Barton, J., Garcia Cegarra, A., Muslow, S., Ricci, E., Campus, L., & Francisca, V. P. (2022). Toxic violence in marine sacrificial zones: Developing blue justice through marine democracy in Chile. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 40(7), 1492–1514. https://doi.org/10.1177/23996544221084193
Araos, F., Diestre, F., Cursach, J., Almonacid, J., Riquelme, W., Brañas, F., Zamorano, G., Molina-Hueichán, J., Vargas, D., & Lemus, M. (2023). Sentinels of Carelmapu: Participatory community monitoring to protect Indigenous marinescapes in southern Chile. In P. E. Perkins (Ed.), Climate justice and participatory research: Building climate-resilient commons. University of Calgary Press.
Araos, F., Diestre, F., Riquelme Maulén, W., Cursach, J., & Almonacid, J. (2022). Centinelas comunitarios: Guía metodológica para realizar monitoreos participativos comunitarios. Laboratorio de Ciencia Ciudadana de la Universidad de Los Lagos.
Bonney, R., Ballard, H. L., Jordan, R., McCallie, E., Phillips, T. B., Shirk, J. L., & Wilderman, C. C. (2009). Public participation in scientific research: Defining the field and assessing its potential for informal science education. https://informalscience.org/research/public-participation-scientific-research-defining-field-and-assessing-its-potential-informal/
Bonney, R., Shirk, J. L., Phillips, T. B., Wiggins, A., Ballard, H. L., Miller-Rushing, A. J., & Parrish, J. K. (2014). Next steps for citizen science. Science, 343, 1436–1437. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251554
Brondízio, E. S., Aumeeruddy-Thomas, Y., Bates, P., Carino, J., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Ferrari, M. F., Galvin, K., Reyes-García, V., McElwee, P., Molnár, Z., Samakov, A., & Shrestha, U. B. (2021). Locally based, regionally manifested, and globally relevant: Indigenous and local knowledge, values, and practices for nature. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46, 481–509. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-012127
Burgos, S., Yohannessen, K., Álvarez, A., Rebolledo, A., & Valenzuela, M. T. (2017). Educación en salud a través del desarrollo de habilidades científicas en escolares chilenos. Salud Pública de México, 59(3), 276–284.
Cárcamo, P., & Niklitschek, E. (2023). Monitoreo de la calidad de las aguas superficiales del estuario San Pedro Nolasco y de sus principales tributarios. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18450699
Centinelas Comunitarios. (s.d.). Apoyamos experiencias de monitoreo participativo comunitario. https://centinelascomunitarios.cl/metodologia
Centinelas Comunitarios. (s.d.). Cartografía Maullín [Mapa]. https://centinelascomunitarios.cl/repositorio/routedownload/general/cartografia-maullin
Colina-Vargas, A. M., Espinoza-Mina, M. A., & Silva-Garcés, J. F. (2024). Dinámicas y tendencias de la ciencia ciudadana en América Latina y el Caribe: Un análisis bibliométrico y temático. Editorial Grupo AEA.
Cursach, J., Delgado, C., Cárdenas-Vejar, J., Pfeifer, A., & Rau, R. (2022). Diversidad y patrones de actividad de mamíferos y aves en el bosque de ribera del Santuario de la Naturaleza Humedales del río Maullín, Chile. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, 50. https://doi.org/10.22352/aip202250007
Delgado, C., Cursach, J., Pfeifer, A., Cárdenas-Vejar, J., & Espinoza, L. (2020). Santuario de la Naturaleza Humedales del Río Maullín: Valor ecológico y patrimonial.
Dickinson, J. L., Shirk, J., Bonter, D., Bonney, R., Crain, R. L., Martin, J., Phillips, T., & Purcell, K. (2012). The current state of citizen science as a tool for ecological research and public engagement. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(6), 291-297. https://doi.org/10.1890/110236
Dunlap, R. E., & York, R. (2008). The globalization of environmental concern and the limits of the postmaterialist values explanation: Evidence from four multinational surveys. The Sociological Quarterly, 49(3), 529–563.
Ellwood, E. R., Crimmins, T. M., & Miller-Rushing, A. J. (2017). Citizen science and conservation: Recommendations for a rapidly moving field. Biological Conservation, 208, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.10.014
Hiriart, C. G., Rodríguez, D. S., Maulén, W. R., Almarza, A. R., & Bunster, D. O. (2022). The EXPLORA model of citizen science at schools: Design and implementation in the intercultural south of Chile. Tapuya, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/25729861.2022.2117492
Johnston, A., Hochachka, W. M., Strimas‐Mackey, M. E., Ruiz Gutierrez, V., Robinson, O. J., Miller, E. T., Auer, T., Kelling, S. T., & Fink, D. (2021). Analytical guidelines to increase the value of community science data: An example using eBird data to estimate species distributions. Diversity and distributions, 27(7), 1265-1277. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13271
Jordan, R., Gray, S., Sorensen, A., Newman, G., Mellor, D., Hmelo-Silver, C., LaDeau, S., Biehler, D., & Crall, A. (2016). Studying citizen science through adaptive management and learning feedbacks as mechanisms for improving conservation. Conservation Biology, 30, 487–495. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12659
Kapoor, I. (2001). Towards participatory environmental management? Journal of Environmental Management, 63, 269–279. https://doi.org/10.1006/jema.2001.0478
Larson, L. R., Cooper, C. B., Futch, S., Singh, D., Shipley, N. J., Dale, K., LeBaron, G. S., & Takekawa, J. Y. (2020). The diverse motivations of citizen scientists: Does conservation emphasis grow as volunteer participation progresses? Biological Conservation, 242.
Lawrence, A. (2006). No personal motive? Volunteers, biodiversity, and the false dichotomies of participation. Ethics, Place & Environment, 9, 279–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668790600893319
López-Gómez, M. J., Aguilar-Perera, A., & Perera-Chan, L. (2014). Mayan diver-fishers as citizen scientists: detection and monitoring of the invasive red lionfish in the Parque Nacional Arrecife Alacranes, southern Gulf of Mexico. Biological Invasions, 16(7), 1351-1357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0582-0
McKinley, D. C., Miller-Rushing, A. J., Ballard, H. L., Bonney, R., Brown, H., Cook-Patton, S. C., Evans, D. M., French, R. F. , Parrish, J. K., Phillips, T. B., Ryan, S. F. , Shanley, L. F., Shirk, J. L., Stepenuck, K. F., Weltzin, J. F., Wiggins, A., Boyle, O. D., Briggs, R. D., Chapin III, S. F., Hewitt, D. A., Preuss, P. W., & Soukup, M. A. (2017). Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection. Biological conservation, 208, 15-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.015
Miller-Rushing, A. J., Primack, R., & Bonney, R. (2012). The history of public participation in ecological research. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 285–290. https://doi.org/10.1890/110278
Nuñez-Farias, P., Velásquez-Contreras, S., Ríos-Carmona, V., Velásquez-Contreras, J., Velásquez-Contreras, M. E., Rojas-Rojas, J. L., & Riveros-Flores, B. (2019). Citizen science among all: Participatory bird monitoring of the coastal wetland of the Limarí River, Chile. Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, 9(1), 3–8.
Phillips, T., Porticella, N., Constas, M., & Bonney, R. (2018). A framework for articulating and measuring individual learning outcomes from participation in citizen science. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.126
Rotman, D., Hammock, J., Preece, J., Hansen, D., Boston, C., Bowser, A., & He, Y. (2014). Motivations affecting initial and long-term participation in citizen science projects in three countries. iConference. https://doi.org/10.9776/14054
Salamon, L. M., Sokolowski, S. W., & Haddock, M. A. (2011). Measuring the economic value of volunteer work globally: Concepts, estimates, and a roadmap to the future. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 82, 217–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.2011.00437.x
Senabre, E., Ferran Ferrer, N., & Perelló, J. (2018). Diseño participativo de experimentos de ciencia ciudadana. Comunicar, 54(1), 29–38.
Shinbrot, X. A., Jones, K. W., Newman, G., & Ramos-Escobedo, M. (2023). Why citizen scientists volunteer: The influence of motivations, barriers, and perceived project relevancy. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 66, 122–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2021.1979944
Shirk, J. L., Ballard, H. L., Wilderman, C. C., Phillips, T. B., Wiggins, A., Jordan, R., McCallie, E., Minarchek, M., Lewenstein, B. V., Krasny, M. E., & Bonney, R. (2012). Public participation in scientific research: A framework for deliberate design. Ecology and Society, 17(29). https://doi.org/10.5751/es-04705-170229
Skewes, J. C., Álvarez, R., & Navarro, M. (2012). Usos consuetudinarios, conflictos actuales y conservación en el borde costero de Chiloé insular. Magallania, 40(1), 109–125.
Tejeda, I., & Medrano, F. (2018). El potencial de la ciencia ciudadana para el estudio de las aves urbanas en Chile. Revista Diseño Urbano & Paisaje. http://66.70.189.83/handle/CEHUM2018/1379
Theobald, E. J., Ettinger, A. K., Burgess, H. K., DeBey, L. B., Schmidt, N., Froehlich, H. E., Wagner, C. A., HilleRisLambers, J., Tewksbury, J. J., Harsch, M. A., & Parrish, J. K. (2015). Global change and local solutions: Tapping the unrealized potential of citizen science for biodiversity research. Biological Conservation, 181, 236–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.10.021
Tiago, P., Gouveia, M. J., Capinha, C., Santos-Reis, M., & Pereira, H. M. (2017). The influence of motivational factors on the frequency of participation in citizen science activities. Nature Conservation, 18, 61–78.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Paula Carcamo Mansilla, Francisco Javier Araos Leiva, Florencia Diestre, Magdalena Francisca Huerta Téllez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright on works published in this journal rests with the author, with first publication rights for the journal. The content of published works is the sole responsibility of the authors. DMA is an open access journal and has adopted the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Not Adapted (CC-BY) license since January 2023. Therefore, when published by this journal, articles are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercial) and adapt (remix, transform, and create from the material for any purpose, even commercial). You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license and indicate if changes have been made.
The contents published by DMA from v. 53, 2020 to v. 60, 2022 are protected by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
DMA has been an open access journal since its creation, however, from v.1 of 2000 to v. 52 of 2019, the journal did not adopt a Creative Commons license and therefore the type of license is not indicated on the first page of the articles.
.png)
