Local Bristol company’s app helps support biggest butterfly count project in the world

Bristol based software development company, Natural Apptitude (a Farm491 member) are, for the second year running, supporting Butterfly Conservation’s ‘Big Butterfly Count’ through the development of an app and website to enable c.100,000 ‘citizen scientists’ across the UK to take part in the biggest butterfly count in the world! 

The Big Butterfly Count is a UK-wide survey aimed at helping scientists assess the health of our environment simply by counting the amount and type of butterflies (and some day-flying moths) we see. The event runs between 16th July – 8th August and encourages members of the general public to become citizen scientists by spending 15 minutes a day connecting with nature and logging the butterflies and moths they see during this time. 

In recent years, the UK public have become increasingly conscious of the environment, and projects like this are an invaluable way for people across the UK to ‘do their bit’ for the planet by collecting data on a scale that wouldn’t be possible without such public involvement. 

Natural Apptitude have been working with environmental organisations like Butterfly Conservation to support their data collection needs for over 10 years. Experts in citizen science projects, Natural Apptitude design and build custom apps for their clients. More recently, Natural Apptitude have launched their Coreo platform, a no-code solution to building data collection apps and managing data. This gives organisations the freedom and flexibility to build the apps they need in a matter of hours using ‘drag and drop’ functionality simplifying the often complex approach to software in conservation projects.

Dave Kilbey, CEO of Natural Apptitude comments: 

‘The concept Natural Apptitude began in 2010 when I decided I wanted to combine my knowledge and lifelong passion for the environment with my career in technology, to make it easier for ecologists and conservationists, like me, to collect and manage data for their projects.  

What sets us apart from other organisations is our commitment to protecting the environment around us. Every team member at Natural Apptitude embodies our values and ethos in both their work and personal lives. We are all driven to support organisations, big and small, with their projects that make real change in the world around us. 

Being able to work alongside Butterfly Conservation on the Big Butterfly Count for another year is not only a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team but it is also a symbol of the scope of our bespoke software and our Coreo data collection platform. I’m excited to see the continued growth of the project and our partnership over the coming years’. 

You can find out more about the Natural Apptitude, Coreo and the Big Butterfly Count here – https://www.natural-apptitude.co.uk