The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is inviting people across the country to join the Great Southern BioBlitz 2022 (GSB 2022).
The event, which will be held from 28 October until end-of-day on 31 October 2022, is an international competition that sees southern hemisphere cities competing against each other to see who can make the most observations of biodiversity, who can find the most diverse species, and who can engage the most people.
SANBI garden manager for the Kwelera National Botanical Garden Nomama Mei, who is leader of the Buffalo City Blitz, says: “This will highlight the immense biodiversity spread across the southern hemisphere in the flourishing springtime, as well as engage the greater public in science and nature learning.
“Much like other nature spotting challenges, the Great Southern Blitz encourages people to notice and document plant and animal species in their own neighbourhood.
“We are challenging people to visit the natural spaces near them, including their local national botanical garden, to seek out unusual and noteworthy flora and fauna, upload them to the iNaturalist app to help us understand the species trends in our cities.
“We invite all nature lovers, City Nature Challenge members and all citizen scientists to join our Great Southern BioBlitz project.”
In 2022, 34 places (15 towns, 14 regions and five countries) in Southern and Central Africa are taking part.
To join in the fun, citizen scientists can download the free iNaturalist app onto their smartphone or tablet, take photos using the app, and upload them.