Joshua Askew
BBC News, South East
Getty Images
Artificial intelligence (AI) is to be deployed in a conservation project to protect Surrey's natural landscapes.
Space4Nature, led by Surrey Wildlife Trust and University of Surrey, will see volunteer teams map habitats by recording plant species thriving on acid grassland.
What the volunteers document at places like Puttenham Common will be used to help train an AI model, which will be able to match specific types of habitat with similar ones close by using satellite images.
Dan Banks, Space4Nature project citizen science officer, said: "Conservation is increasingly reliant on new technologies to develop solutions that can be implemented at scale."
"But that doesn't mean that old fashioned ground truthing isn't needed too.
"As the Artificial Intelligence capabilities being developed by our colleagues at University of Surrey become more sophisticated, we need more complex data to help them keep learning and evolving.
"With the climate and nature crisis becoming more severe, local people with an interest in nature can make a real difference by getting involved in local projects."
Space4Nature said over the last two years it has deployed more than 200 volunteers to some of the county's most important chalk grassland, wetland and heathland habitats, including Chobham Common, Unstead wetland reserve, Sheepleas and Puttenham Common.
