For the first time, Cape Town will be taking part in the annual Global City Nature Challenge, where cities from the around the world compete to record the most observations of local planet and animals over four days.
The City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee member of Spatial Planning and Environment, Marian Nieuwoudt, is encouraging locals and tourists to get involved in the competition.
“We are extremely proud to participate in this globally-important biodiversity competition and look forward to this exciting challenge. We are inviting all Capetonians to ‘bioblitz’ our nature reserves and natural open areas to record everything alive over those four days,” she says.
Running from 26-29 April 2019, the challenge is open to residents and tourists of all ages. It is the first year African cities are taking place, and these include Cape Town, Nairobi and Port Harcourt.
Activities will be held in conservation areas and reserves around Cape Town.
Anyone who is interested in recording and mapping species of flora and fauna and would like to take part in the challenge can head to these reserves.
Tours and ‘bioblitzes’ of the reserves will take place during the challenge. These will be headed by local experts and managers.
Nieuwoudt says the event will encourage locals to get out and about in the city’s abundant nature.
“With over 150 cities taking part, we know this challenge will be no small task for Cape Town. Our city is incredibly blessed with vast nature reserves and many natural open areas, but it is now up to us to showcase and display our fauna and flora. This challenge will provide residents and visitors with a fun opportunity to get outside and actually look for nature in this beautiful city.”
Participants can record any animal, plant, fungi, slime, mold, or evidence of life such as scat, feathers, tracks and shells they find in Cape Town.
How to get involved:
Participants can register for the challenge on iNaturalist and upload all of their findings. The iNaturalist app can be downloaded here.
Picture: Twitter/ Rich Garwood