Finnish partner wins innovation award for species identification
24 November 2009, Finland. NatureGate, a Finnish company which recently joined Countdown 2010, was awarded the Quality Innovation Prize of the Year 2009 in the category of micro companies on 12 November by Excellence Finland.
The acknowledgement was given for the new online web service which the company developed for an easier identification of Finnish species. NatureGate’s worldwide patented identification system enables users to enter “where” and “when” they observed a flower, tree or bush (soon bird, butterfly and fish), as well as details of its colour, shape, size etc. With every added observation, the NatureGate site automatically narrows down the number of possible species, until only a handful of illustrated examples are left, making it easy for the users to compare images and pick out their sighting. This tool provides a wealth of information about Finland’s plants, birds and butterflies, as well as many pictures of the featured species which will also be useful in attracting tourists to Finland’s nature.
The company is currently developing a special mobile application for palm-top computers, which can be used to rapidly identify species while out in nature.
NatureGate is managed by Eija and Jouko Lehmuskallio who share a professional media background and a passion for nature. Members of IUCN Commission on Education and Communication, the Lehmuskallios have been building up an amazing collection of images, particularly analytical pictures for identifying flowers, birds and butterflies for almost 20 years.
In the picture Excellence Finland Director Tani Järvinen and the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen present the award to NatureGate’s Eija and Jouko Lehmuskallio (photograph: Excellence Finland).
