CapeNature participates in the City Nature Challenge, a worldwide citizen science event
By Natanya Dreyer, Team Leader, Learning and Awareness
The annual City Nature Challenge is a global community science competition to document biodiversity. The challenge is a bio blitz that engages residents and visitors to find and document plants, animals and other organisms within a specific boundary.
Cities around the world compete against one another to see who can make the most observations of nature, find the most species and engage the most people to participate. Knowing where and what species are in our cities help us to study and protect them. By garnering the support of the public and all major conservation organisations within a particular boundary, an incredible amount of data is able to be collected in a very short space of time.
Following a hard lockdown during the 2020 event, in 2021, South Africa and the Western Cape was finally able to fully discover and document its incredible wildlife in the great outdoors again. Both the City of Cape Town and the Garden Route Municipality entered the competition and CapeNature was there to help record species and arrange events for the public.
The event ran from 30 April to 3 May and in that time CapeNature events were held at the Lourensford and Hansekop sites in the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, Atlantis Area, Kammanassie and Gamkaberg Nature Reserves. 110 people attended these events with an estimated 1800 observations made. Participants included CapeNature staff, scientists and members of the public. Between 30 April and 9 May these observations will be uploaded and species names will be confirmed by specialists in the field. CapeNature’s contributions will be added to other participant organisations and individuals and the final result for the participating cities will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Related News
Don’t Be Trashy campaign fights waste on land and sea in Western Cape
CapeNature, in partnership with Soapbox and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP), is working on the “Don’t Be Trashy” Drive to address the growing threat of waste to ecosystems across the province.
Celebrate the 11th annual Access Week and grab your chance to experience nature for free!
Rediscover the beauty of the Western Cape’s protected areas during the 11th annual Access Week, taking place from 20 to 26 September 2025. CapeNature is celebrating over a decade of breaking down barriers to the Western Cape’s natural spaces, with free day visitor entry to selected reserves across the province.
Catch and release helps to conserve the Western Cape’s indigenous fish
Freshwater ecosystems across the Western Cape are rich in biodiversity, supporting a variety of indigenous fish. However, these species are increasingly threatened by the spread of invasive alien fish species, that prey on indigenous species and compete with them for food, space, and breeding grounds.
Celebrating innovative, resilient women in tourism
Women are thriving in tourism and wielding influence from the boardroom to hiking trails, where they beat a pathway for others to follow. They occupy 70% of the tourism workforce in South Africa, and their voices are being amplified in the sector now more than ever. A powerful yet often overlooked statistic that underscores their vital role in the sector.
Rivers, Watersheds, and the Klein Estuary: A 2025 Natural Breach Event
Over millions of years, South Africa’s rivers and watersheds have evolved through the forces of erosion, rainfall, and shifting geology. A river catchment, or watershed, is an area of land where all surface water flows toward a single river, stream, or channel, eventually reaching the sea.
Avian Influenza detected in Western Cape: Public urged to stay alert, not alarmed
High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI or “bird flu”) is a viral disease of birds that can also, on rare occasions, infect humans and mammals. The virus spreads through bird faeces and droplets from the nose and mouth, and is present in other body fluids and tissues of dead birds. The disease can cause high mortality rates in domestic poultry.
How can I assist you today?
How can I assist you today?