Expeditie Stadsnatuur in the 'Oude UB'
How many species of plants, animals, fungi and moss live in the gardens surrounding the Oude UB at Rapenburg 70? On Tuesday May 20th, the Citizen Science Lab led an investigation in the front gardens and back courtyard of the Old UB at Rapenburg 70, together with 15 colleagues working in that building.
This activity was part of Expeditie Stadsnatuur Leiden, a city-wide call by the Leiden Biodiversity Network for citizens to help identify the geographic and species range of biodiversity in our urban environment by use of the Obsidentify-app. The resulting data will not only show us which species are living and thriving in Leiden, but also inform ideas and actions to improve biodiversity and protect or even restore nature in various parts of our city.
One tangible discussion about our relationship with nature and where we create spaces for it to thrive, is the decisions we make about the maintenance of our buildings and grounds. On the very day of the lunch-time excursion, a grounds-keeping crew were hosing boiling water to clear out the pavement plants by the bicycle parking area. This was quite counter productive to our biodiversity monitoring exercise, but a good example of how we might have different ideas and priorities about how to ‘keep things tidy’ in our shared spaces.
🦋What did we find? - Our aim was to record the wildlife that is attracted to the purposeful insect-friendly planting of the front gardens, and plants and wildlife that are thriving in the back courtyard thanks to letting nature run its own course. Not only did we identify 18 different insect species, but an impressive variety of wild plants are growing amongst the pebbles along the backyard walls, and the mighty Obsidentify app was able to confirm the presence of a hedgehog by identifying its poo.
🔍JOIN US! The initiative is running until the end of May, so there is still time to do your own biodiversity monitoring anywhere in Leiden.All you need is the Obsidentify app installed on your phone, with an account registered, data-sharing permissions given, and your location turned on. More than 40 local expeditions have been organised and shared on the Groenestad071 platform, more than 1,000 people have participated, and our Waarneming.nl project page shows that more than 1,900 species have been reported! We are well on our way to spotting 2025 species, which is our ultimate goal.
❓SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK - have you taken part in an expedition? We would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to share your feedback with us. This will help us a lot to get an impression of participants’ experiences and improve the following editions.
📽️ We’re making an aftermovie! If you have any video material that is horizontally filmed, you can share that with us at https://we.tl/r-WzfR9SY4Wj. Don’t worry about the length – we will edit the best bits together.
📷 A photo contest will be held at the closing event. Send in your most beautiful pictures of plants, animals or fungi at https://woobox.com/2q3cfs, and maybe it will end up in the Expeditie Stadsnatuur Leiden closing event on Friday June 20th at 15:00, we will festively conclude the ESL2025 with a closing event in the Stadsfoyer of the Stadhuis (Stadhuisplein 1, Leiden).