Participate in the protection of biodiversity with a mobile game

Riihimäki's alien species control campaign will begin on Monday, June 2. During the summer, city residents can earn money by weeding giant balsams in the Riihimäki area.

Join the collective work by downloading the Crowdsorsa mobile game to your smartphone and getting out into nature. The game makes protecting biodiversity fun and rewarding.

Giant balsam forms large stands of a single species that take up space from native vegetation, thus weakening biodiversity.

The performance will be videotaped before and after

You can find good instructions for participating in the Crowdsorsa mobile game, which can be downloaded from your smartphone's app store. When a player finds giant balsams marked on the map or discovered by themselves, they videotape the occurrence before and after they are uprooted. The videos are uploaded to Crowdsorsa for review. Participants receive a reward for approved videos. The reward can be requested from the app to their bank account.

"In previous years, it has been gratifying to see how people of all ages have been enthusiastic about getting involved. You can use a scythe, garden shears or manual labor to weed. The style is free. The most active have even bought a line cutter and made the game their summer job," laughs Crowdsorsa CEO Toni Paju.

This summer, Riihimäki is offering a total of 2450 euros in rewards to those who participate in the game. Players can earn up to 20 euros per hour. The reward is up to 0,25 euros per square meter, depending on the size and density of the observation. The game automatically calculates the reward based on the area, density and species of the occurrence.

The game lasts as long as there remains reward budget. The progress of the plant control work can be monitored in the app. The start of the game is timed to coincide with the flowering time of the giant balsam, so that the species is easily identifiable.

"We hope that this project will inspire residents, especially young people, to fight giant balsam through play. We also hope that we can raise awareness about invasive alien species at the same time," says park manager Saila Nummela.

Giant balsam is easy to uproot

Weeding and mowing are effective ways to get rid of giant balsam. Giant balsam is easy to weed because it comes off the ground easily and no special protective equipment is needed. This makes giant balsam control particularly suitable for volunteer work. Gardening gloves and rubber boots are recommended.

In addition to giant balsam, other harmful alien species to be controlled in Riihimäki include Spanish snails, giant tuberose, thorny rose, lupine and rowan eelgrass.

The City of Riihimäki also promotes biodiversity by, among other things, leaving dead trees in wild areas, leaving meadows unmown, and promoting the eradication of Spanish snails.

Crowdsorsa mobile game

Alien species page on Riihimäki's website