Seeing is believing: How citizen science challenges riparian misconceptions

This open letter discusses the importance of riparian vegetation and the misconceptions surrounding its management. It highlights the essential ecosystem services provided by riparian zones, such as flood regulation, sediment control, shading, microclimate regulation, and habitat diversity. Despite these benefits, public misunderstanding often leads to harmful policies like clear-cutting and channelization. In this brief communication, we emphasize the role of citizen science in addressing public perception by involving local communities in environmental surveys, providing examples of a novel approach to monitor and manage riparian forests. This newly developed process involves volunteer training, data collection using a smartphone app, data analysis, and dissemination of results. The collected data is validated by experts and used to inform decision-making. This hands-on engagement helps replace anecdotal beliefs with evidence-based understanding, fostering better public support for conservation efforts.