Wildlife survey

There was an interesting report on the BBC recently about a wildlife survey being done by asking ordinary commuters to make simple reports of sightings of wildlife. I recall also surveys being done through schools.
Given our limited human resources and our limited knowledge of local wildlife, could something similar be done here? May be a limited survey using school children? May be enough ordinary citizen would be interested. It could be limited to, say, birds or butterflies or garden insects or even plants. Enough young people have cell phones with cameras to be useful. At least it would increase awareness of local flora and fauna.