It’s downloaded from the Google Playstore to
a smartphone - making it accessible to fynbos
harvesters.
A citizen science project
She says, “This is as much a monitoring effort
as a citizen science project. The i-Fynbos app
makes citizen scientists out of harvesters,
who are responsible for capturing the data.
However, we recommend that all information
collected is verified by a third party like Flower
Valley Conservation Trust.”
The fynbos app came about through funding
support from the Universities of Durham
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
and Newcastle in the United Kingdom,
who have been working in collaboration
with Flower Valley Conservation Trust and its
Sustainable Harvesting Programme since 2010.
The Sustainable Harvesting Programme works
with harvesters and suppliers to pick fynbos
responsibly, and to meet social and labour
compliance.
During the following six months, the app will
be tested by teams of harvesters. After this,
the app could be made available to other
harvesting sectors, such as the honey bush
industry and the medicinal plants sector.
For more information, visit: www.flowervalley.
org.za.
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