2020 City Nature Challenge Geelong
My apologies for not including this information in the offical project earlier. I did send out the note below via email and include in the June edition of Geelong Naturalist so may have missed some people.
So for completeness;
T he City Nature Challenge (CNC) concluded at midnight on Sunday 3 May. Geelong’s position in relation to the 244 participating cities is reported here with a summary showing ranking and totals for a variety of categories. This year the CNC rules were amended and the activity was no longer considered a competition due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organisers proceeded with the CNC on the basis that it would provide people with an opportunity to connect with nature. One of the prime objectives of the CNC is to foster observation and recording of nature using the iNaturalist system, and this remained the case in 2020.
Despite the difficulties, and much hardship experienced in some cities, the CNC organisers reported that thousands more people participated this year compared with 2019. The total species count was up, even though total observations were 150 000 fewer than last year.
For us in Geelong, the process was very new. I thought you might wish to see how we ranked against other cities as if it were still a competition. Table 1 shows various CNC categories and our corresponding ranking on the leader board.
CNC Categories - Geelong City Ranking
Total Observations (5949) - 40
Total Verifiable Observations (5496) - 37
Total Research Observations (3740) - 26
Total Species (1384) - 30
Total Verifiable Species (1292) - 28
Total Research Species (962) - 16
Total Observers (135)- 73
Total Identifiers (266) - 58
It is clear from these relative rankings that our standing in the CNC has been exemplary! Our performance is in the top 10 percentile of participating cities for Research Grade observations for any organisation—let alone a volunteer-based nature appreciation club. This is a rewarding outcome for all participants. It reinforces our already good reputation achieved over many years through involvement in other surveys and citizen science programs. The collected biodiversity and species information will be of benefit within the community and for use by relevant local and state government authorities.
Examining the CNC tables across the 67 cities with a population between 100 000 and one million shows that Geelong ranked fourth in total observations following Chiayi (Taiwan), Gainesville (Florida) and Christchurch (New Zealand). Christchurch had been identified as a benchmark city for us in planning for the event. It is pleasing to see that we achieved—in our first year—a comparable outcome to this New Zealand city which had participated in 2019.
Geelong ranked sixth for total observations for cities within our climate region (Warm Temperate Oceanic), comprising a subset of 37 cities, and third for total species in this category. In the total species count we were just behind Christchurch and Asheville (North Carolina). However, when looking at Geelong numbers for total verifiable and research grade species we achieved the No 1 ranking. The city nature challenge climate grouping is based on the Koppen Climate Classification.
Looking to individual contributions: The six top observers for Geelong were Helen Schofield, Rod Lowther, Trevor Prowd, Lachie Forbes, Naomi Wells and Jeff Dagg.
The six top local identifiers were Lorraine Phelan, Helen Schofield, Beth Ross, Graham Possingham, Marilyn Hewish and Naomi Wells.
Overall, it was a great effort from all our observers and identifiers. While the CNC was not a formal competition, I would nevertheless like to acknowledge the immense contribution Helen Schofield and Lorraine Phelan made to Geelong’s success, and feel it right and justifiable that they jointly share the title ‘Geelong CNC 2020 Champion Naturalist’.
Acknowledgements: 18 webinars were held prior to, and during, the CNC with more than 80 people attending at least one session giving a total of 242 attendees across all sessions. The webinars covered iNaturalist familiarisation, plus nature information presentations. These presentations were recorded and made available for viewing via our Facebook page. There were 94 viewings online as of Monday 18 May. Thanks to those involved in these information sessions.
Thanks to presenters Thomas Mesaglio for ‘Beachcombing for all occasions’; Guy Dutson for ‘Frogs and reptiles of the Geelong region’; Peter Crowcroft for his presentation and demonstration on ‘Mothing at home’; and Bernie and Barry Lingham for their excellent ‘Hints on photographing and identifying plants’ talk. These webinars were all very well attended and generated much interest and discussion in preparation for the CNC.
Thanks to Jenny Possingham in preparing and making available her informative guide on ‘Mobile phone photography’. The presentation was available for public viewing on the CNC Facebook page and received over 100 views.
