Interview : Value and limits of citizen science in biodiversity monitoring

Citizen sciences are undergoing strong growth, a fact demonstrated by the session devoted to the topic at the 3rd French-language meetings on conservation biology (Le reveil du dodo III, 17-19 March 2009 in Montpellier) and the seminar titled Citizen science and biodiversity, held in Montpellier on 22-23 October 2009. Marion and Frédéric Gosselin, engineer and researcher at Cemagref in Nogent-sur-Vernisson discuss the topic here with Romain Julliard, researcher at the MNHN bird-ringing project and who has managed a number of Vigie-Nature programmes requiring public participation (naturalists and amateurs) to collect the necessary data. The discussion successively addresses the history of citizen sciences, their advantages and limits, focussing on the assessment of biodiversity-conservation policies.