Biodiversity crowdsourcing helps countries map useful species

After losing their sturgeon fishery, the Romanian town of Sfantu Gheorghe turned to biodiversity crowd sourcing in an attempt to find other means of maintaining their economy. What they found is Sea Buckthorn, a plant we are all familiar with. This type of technology could be used in conjunction with community activism to locate areas that need protection, restoration, or have the potential for agriculture and forestry. Its not only a way of of locating environmental potential, but also economic potential. All the while one can cross reference other species in the area and find out how they may affect or be affected by this process. What a wonderful tool! Does North America have anything like this?

The European crowd sourcing site is http://www.naturalliance.eu/home.aspx?selectculture=true

Here is an article on the Romanian town phys.org/news/2013-01-naturalliance-crowdsourcing-solutions-riches-nature.html