Botanists are scouring the US-Mexico border to document a forgotten ecosystem split by a giant wall

By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press

JACUMÉ, México (AP) — Botanists and citizen scientists armed with the iNaturalist app on their smartphones are recording the biodiversity along the U.S.-Mexico border. Called the Border Bioblitz, more than 1,000 volunteers are recording as many species as possible in May. Botanist Sula Vanderplank says the endeavor started when the former Trump administration added hundreds of miles of border walls including through the biodiversity hotspot of Baja California. The United Nations is expected to hold a high-level meeting of signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity aiming to protect 30% of land, freshwater and oceans considered important for biodiversity by 2030, known as 30 by 30.