The City Nature Challenge was held between 28 April and 1 May 2023 and encouraged Capetonians to explore the city’s nature reserves and natural open spaces and record all of the local plant and animal species that they spotted over the four days.
The victors have been announced, and Cape Town has ranked second out of 482 cities in the number of observations recorded and fourth in the number of species recorded.
Also read: It’s time to go exploring, the City Nature Challenge is back!
‘Cape Town, you did great in capturing the natural heritage in our city this year. The results are in, and your encounters with the beautiful plant and animal life in our natural surroundings have earned us second place out of 482 cities around the world that also participated in the City Nature Challenge. This is the runner-up spot to La Paz, Bolivia,’ said Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment.
Participants in Cape Town were able to record 52 518 observations and 3 847 species across the city. La Paz, Bolivia, took first place in the category of recorded observations, with 126 435 observations. La Paz also took first place in the category of recorded species, with 5 344 species.
Globally, 1 870 763 observations were made, with 66 394 people taking part.
The mallard duck was the most frequently observed species across all cities. Over 57 000 species were documented in total, including over 2 570 species of conservation concern.
‘A special thanks to all the individuals from our city who helped identify observations that were recorded during the City Nature Challenge. Over 2,000 people participated in Cape Town. This is a wonderful achievement,’ said Alderman Andrews.
Participants in the competition were required to download the iNaturalist.com app and upload all of their findings to the app in order to share their observations.
The City organised a variety of activities throughout the challenge, including tours of the reserves with local experts, and the reserves were open to anyone who wanted to record their observations of plant and animal life over the four days.
Also read:
Cape Town’s wildlife sanctuaries and their environmental initiatives
Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook
