Your natural legacy

If you regularly use nature recording apps and platforms like ObsIdentify, iRecord, eBird, or iNaturalist, you likely focus on the immediate thrill of the find, logging that rare moth, submitting a crisp recording of a bird song, or mapping the local flora. Yet few of us consider what happens to our data when we can no longer log in due to chronic illness…or death. What becomes of your biological legacy, and will system administrators, conservation scientists, and future researchers still be able to access and use your unverified records, photos, and audio clips? The reassuring news is that any observation you have already fully published usually stays safe, remaining archived in public repositories and integrated into global biodiversity databases. However, without proactive planning, your digital contribution may never reach its full potential. When access to your accounts is permanently lost, critical elements risk becoming locked behind an inaccessible wall, including sightings…