Diario del proyecto City Nature Challenge 2022: North East England

Well, we've had time to digest the data and statistics from the #CityNatureChallenge this year and we are over the moon with the effort you all put in to the event!

Overall, we came 101 out of 445 cities which took part. This position is based on the total number of observations made. For number of observers taking part, we came 109th but we did even better when we look at some different aspects of the data, for example, we came 84th for the number of species recorded.

Digging into the statistics a bit further, it was great to see that 96% of the observations we made were “verifiable”. A verifiable observation is one which has a valid date, a location, has photo or sound, and isn’t a captivated or cultivated specimen. These other bits of information are essential to make the data useful for conservation and research purposes.

Once two thirds of “identifications” of an observation are in agreement, the observation quality moves from “Needs ID” to “Research Grade” quality. This makes the observation much more useful for two main reasons:

a) it is much more likely that the ID is correct and

b) the data will then flow forward into iRecord (the main recording platform in the UK) and ultimately into the National Biodiversity Atlas. Once the data is in iRecord, it is also accessible by local records centres like us at ERIC NE.

We did really well working as a community to help with identification and almost 63% of our records got to research grade over the duration of the event and we got to 64th position for this aspect!!! Further identification can continue beyond the event, so if you have a spare five minutes here and there, you can always pop on to iNat and help out with identifications to get any observations up to research grade.

Looking at the wider global results, 67,220 observers from 445 “cities” took part from 47 countries to make a total of 1,694,877 observations! We more or less made the average number of observations per person. Globally the figure is 25.2 and our number for NE England was 24.7 observations per person.
Observations were made in the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere and in a wide range of habitats from arid desert to tropical rainforest!

The overall winner, though the CNC is of course officially a collaboration these days, was “La Paz” in Bolivia with an incredible 137,345 observations of 5,320 species by 4,296 people. For some comparison, La Paz has a population of 1,831,350 in their “city” area which covers 7284km2 and here in our “city” of North East England, the population is approximately 2,400,000 and the area of our city is 12,000km2. What is their secret????

A total of 2,244 rare/endangered or threatened species were spotted and recorded around the world and we would like to give a special mention to the 240 participants in Ukraine who made 7,867 observations of 1, 698 species including and observation by zoologist Vasyliuk Oleksij of the rare and endangered Przewalski’s Horse (Equus ferus ssp. Przewalskii). It is also encouraging to think about how the CNC brings people together despite what’s going on in the world when we hear of the 767 observers in Russia who also joined with this collaboration.

And the most observed species globally? The Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale!

So don’t stop here! Please keep recording your observations of nature and wildlife. Every record counts and it’s important to record common species too. We could never pay enough scientists to go and do the spotting so wildlife recording is really important and is a really powerful way to help nature.

A MASSIVE THANK YOU for joining in and helping to make so many quality records. We hope you had fun and will be back to join in next year!

From the ERIC North East Team! Paul, Fiona, Anne and Irene.

Time is marching on, Spring is springing and nature is wakening up! There are only 9 days to go until we are off on the City Nature Challenge for 2022!

Now is a great time to get yourself familiar with the iNaturalist recording app so you are ready to make the maximum number of records over the four day recording window from Friday 29 April to Monday 2 May.

It is really easy to use and is perfect for getting children and younger members of the family involved.

Another useful feature of this recording app is that you don't need to be an expert to make records. If you can get a good photo, or a good sound recording, experts in the community can help to identify your observations. This also makes it a useful learning tool.

It would be great if you could let us know you are planning to join in again or if this is your first time.

Last year we had 97 people joining in and they made 2180 observations of 649 species over the 4 days. We would love it if we could get even more people joining in this year and getting more observations logged.

Also, where will you be recording? If we record in different habitats, we will get a greater number of species. We have such a great range here in the North East too. Rocky shores, sandy shores, meadows, woods, ponds, parks, gardens and more, we are really looking forward to seeing what you spot!

To take part:

1. Download the iNaturalist app on to your phone and create an account. There is a website version too.
2. Join the City Nature Challenge 2022: North East England Project. This is our local "city".
3. Find wildlife then photograph or make a sound recording of what you find. Remember any wildlife, plants, animals or fungi and even evidence of wildlife, like tracks and feathers counts.
4. Upload your observations! It's that simple!

If you want to find out more, have a look here: https://www.ericnortheast.org.uk/citynaturechallenge/

Follow us our social media channels too for updates:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ericnortheast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ERICNorthEast

For the fourth year running we are inviting you to join in with the the City Nature Challenge, a world wide nature spot, that runs from 29 April to 2 May this year. Originally set up on a competitive basis, it is now described, since the pandemic started, as a collaborative effort to record as much wildlife as possible over these 4 days, though fun, local competition to get the most records, is perfectly acceptable!

Despite being called the "City" Nature Challenge, you don't need to live in a city to take part! Wildlife Records from any habitat can be submitted to the challenge. From the Tweed to the Tees we're asking you to add your observations wherever you are!

The iNaturalist app is easy to use and can be a great way to start observing and recording wildlife, especially with children, If you work in a school, particularly if you're involved in a nature club, perhaps you could kick off the City Nature Challenge on Friday the 29th April with a school bioblitz? If you like this idea, but feel you need some support, get in touch with Fiona and she can help you get set up.

Many people feel they don't know enough or that maybe there is nothing interesting to record nearby. On the first point, so long as you can take a reasonably good photo of your organism, you don't need to know what it is. Other observers and experts in the iNaturalist community, can view your photo and can usually identify it so it is also a great learning tool. On the second point, recording all species, even common ones, is important. A good example of this is the changes in the hedgehog population in Britain.
Not so long ago, they were a common, everyday species, but now, sadly, they are classified as vulnerable to extinction in the United Kingdom. By monitoring numbers and distribution of species, changes in populations can be spotted early and conservation efforts can be targeted to where they will have the most effect. Not everyone can do practical conservation tasks, but nearly everyone can spot some wildlife and make a formal record of it and this makes a difference.

We, here at the Environmental Records Information Centre North East (ERIC NE) coordinate the project for the area of North East England and would be delighted if you would join in. Biological recording is a really great way to help look after wildlife.

You can start to get ready now.

1. Find iNaturalist: www.inaturalist.org
2. Make an account
3. Take a photo of some wildlife, upload it and practise using iNaturalist so you are ready to go in April!
4. If you are really keen, the project is set up and ready for you to join now though it doesn't go live until 29th April. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-north-east-england

Follow the link below to find out more, or contact Fiona if you want some help. https://citynaturechallenge.org/
Fiona.Greenwold@twmuseums.org.uk