Working together for urban nature

This year’s City Nature Challenge, held at the end of April, once again demonstrated just how great the interest is in exploring urban nature: in Berlin, over 20,000 observations of 2,326 species were recorded. The result highlights the extraordinary commitment of citizens, scientific institutions, associations and experts who have jointly contributed to recording biodiversity in the capital. A recent specialist publication on the Berlin results from 2023 and 2024 illustrates that the findings of the City Nature Challenge make a substantial contribution to recording Berlin’s biodiversity.

The project brings together a broad network of partners from the natural and scientific sectors, including experts, volunteers and botanical and zoological institutions. Central to this is the collaboration between professional research and citizen science, which enables a comprehensive data foundation.

The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin has played a key role in initiating and supporting the City Nature Challenge in the city since 2022. At the same time, it is clear that the particular strength of the initiative lies in the cooperation of numerous stakeholders, such as the Botanical Garden, the Stiftung Naturschutz, NABU and many others, who jointly collect observations, identify species and thus make urban biodiversity visible.

Scientific relevance for the capital

A new study published (BMC Ecology and Evolution) makes it clear that the City Nature Challenge in Berlin is far more than just a high-profile participatory initiative. It provides robust scientific data on biodiversity in urban areas.

Furthermore, the City Nature Challenge also records species of particular conservation importance, including rare, protected and invasive species. For example, the invasive floating shrimp Hemimysis anomala or the endangered crested newt (Triturus cristatus). The authors of the study therefore regard the initiative as an important complement to traditional biodiversity monitoring.

Particularly in a metropolis such as Berlin, where comprehensive monitoring has so far been limited, the data collected as part of the City Nature Challenge can help to fill existing gaps in knowledge. It provides valuable insights into the distribution, occurrence and changes in biodiversity in urban areas.

Also striking are the high level of participation and the professional diversity of the contributors. In addition to the increased number of participants, it is evident that specialist experts are able to record certain species groups with particular precision. This contributes significantly to the quality and reliability of the data collected.

The City Nature Challenge thus impressively demonstrates the potential that lies in collaboration between science and society – and how joint commitment can help to better understand and protect biodiversity in cities in the long term