[4th MediaTek Hometown Intelligence Competition] Sustainable Development Made Easy! Citizen Divers and Photographers Join Forces to Build a Marine Citizen Science Biodiversity Database

Full article reprinted from CNEWS reporters Wang Zuo-ming, Li Ying-xuan, Hu Zhao-xin, Xu Yi-lin, Xu Zhe-gang, Liu Yu-xuan, and Li Sheng-wen / Reporting from Hsinchu

In recent years, as humanity works to maintain the sustainable development of our planet, growing environmental awareness has brought related issues into ever-sharper focus. In this year's 4th MediaTek Hometown Intelligence Digital Social Innovation Competition, BlueTrend put forward an improvement plan aimed at strengthening marine resource conservation, with hopes of collaborating with relevant government agencies in the future — and an appeal for everyone to step up. Protecting the Earth starts with loving Taiwan, our beautiful home.

Marine life is disappearing far faster than you might think. BlueTrend, driven by a passion for scuba diving, observed that since the Wanghai Harbor Tide-Watching Bay Resource Conservation Area in Keelung was officially designated in 2016, the results have been visible to all within just a few years, and the number of recreational divers has grown. However, due to insufficient staffing and budgets among the authorities responsible for marine policy and marine academic research — and because studies follow project timelines and monitoring stops once a project ends — there has been a persistent lack of statistical data and research on changes in marine life before and after the establishment of the local conservation area. Last year even saw the largest recorded coral bleaching event in the area, yet there was no way to track or analyse it, making it extremely difficult to drive further conservation efforts.

At the same time, the team noticed that the growing number of divers were already taking large volumes of photographs underwater. Providing them with guidance on what to shoot and the right incentives could be a powerful tool for expanding an underwater image database. To that end, BlueTrend completed the initial development of a marine biodiversity database platform this year. The process is simple: log in, upload, fill in the shooting information, and enter the location — and your survey submission is complete.

Marine Citizen Science Biodiversity Database

From the very beginning, the platform was built in partnership with the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology and the Penghu County Government to co-host an underwater photography competition, using the contest as a vehicle to crowdsource underwater images. Photo collection opened in May, and within a short period of time more than 500 citizen scientists had participated, accumulating over 2,100 photographs representing more than 2,800 species of marine life. The project also led to the publication of Marine Field Notes — Northern Taiwan, priced at NT$1,680 per copy. With 6,000 copies sold, it reached No. 3 on the Books.com.tw Nature bestseller list and generated a total output value of over NT$10 million.

海洋公民科學家海洋生物資料庫 — ▲ The team uses photographs contributed by underwater photographers to expand the range of species documented in Taiwan's marine biodiversity database.

Although the marine biodiversity database has been established, the team identified several ongoing challenges: a lack of incentives for the public to upload data, the sheer diversity of species, frequently changing classification rules, the difficulty of managing a large biodiversity library, and the issue of photographers' copyright over their images. To address these issues, the team is introducing blockchain technology. Drawing on the blockchain Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism, they have developed a "Proof of Photo" concept: each time a photo is uploaded and verified, the user earns tokens. Platform governance, species classification, and surplus reward distribution will all be managed in a decentralised manner through these tokens.

The team explains that the more tokens a user accumulates, the deeper their involvement in the platform's decision-making circle, enabling them to help manage key issues and shape future directions. Surplus earnings will be distributed in proportion to each user's token holdings from photo contributions, encouraging public participation and embodying the spirit of the marine citizen scientist. Photographers will also be able to use blockchain technology to prove their copyright, preventing the unauthorised use of their images.

Looking ahead to implementation, the team will finalise the blockchain technical specifications this month, begin early-stage development in January next year, and expect to go live in April. A collaborative project with the Keelung City Government is also set to launch in May next year, with the Keelung Tide-Watching Bay Ecological Report to be released in November. The team hopes to attract greater public participation going forward, and to work alongside government bodies and scientific research institutions to bring in research capacity. The marine biodiversity data collected each year will be compiled into research reports, with citizen participation writing a beautiful new chapter in the story of Taiwan's marine biology research.

Photo source: CNEWS archive photos

海編"布魯陳"

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