GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - You are invited to participate in this year's international City Nature Challenge running from 29 April to 2 May to record biodiversity in your area.
The Garden Route iNaturalist, Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc), South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) and Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (Crew) encourage everyone to participate in this year's BioBlitz.
Over 400 cities and towns around the world will once again compete in this family-friendly fun nature challenge to see which has the highest biodiversity.
The City Nature Challenge started in 2016 between Los Angeles County and San Francisco, but has subsequently grown into an international event.
Since South African cities joined in 2019, we have consistently delivered nature's winners. In 2021 the Garden Route placed 10th overall in observations taken, and sixth in the number of species recorded.
South African participants in general are gaining global recognition for their contributions.
All nature lovers are encouraged to join this year's challenge over the weekend of 29 April to 2 May, to record all living organisms (except humans and pets) they see in their gardens, around town or their natural areas.
These nature lovers, or citizen scientists, can log their observations using the iNaturalist app available on Google Play Store.
During the following week, between 3 May and 8 May, those observations can be uploaded and identified, and the results are announced on 9 May.
The goal of the challenge is to connect people to their local nature, and to each other. Information collected throughout the weekend also feeds into local, national and international conservation and nature monitoring activities.
South Africa's involvement
According to Crew manager Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, 12 South African cities and regions have already signed up to participate this year. "The competition to be nature's richest town or region is really picking up."
The South African entrants are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, eThekwini, the Garden Route, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Overstrand, Southern Overberg, Stellenbosch, Thoyohandou, Tshwane and the West Coast.
BotSoc's conservation manager, Rupert Koopman, says it's wonderful that so many BotSoc branches are joining the challenge this year. "That means there's ample opportunity for BotSoc members and all nature lovers to become citizen scientists for the weekend and join the action."
How it works:
• Download the iNaturalist app from your play store.
• Check out the tutorials on how to work the app on YouTube or Vimo.
• During the four days of the challenge, take as many pictures as you can of any wild plant, animal or fungus.
• In the week of 3 to 8 May, upload and identify your pictures.
• The results will be announced on 9 May.
Learn via these tutorials
Suvarna notes that even if your city, town or region is not participating, it's still easy to join the City Nature Challenge as part of the global project. Numerous tutorials on how to use the app and website are available on YouTube and Vimo.
For more information or queries on the Garden Route City Nature Challenge and how to get involved, click here. Visit their Facebook page or website or send an e-mail to grd.cnc@gmail.com or wessageorge@isat.co.za.
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