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You might be surprised by the amazing amount of nature and wildlife in Hong Kong . Wherever you go , you ’ re sure to spot interesting creatures and unique flora . All you have to do is look around a little to see one of the thousands of species that call Hong Kong home .
In fact , there ’ s so much variety out there that in a global competition to find and log the most species in and around the city , Hong Kong placed second in the world last year and has been in the top five for several years running . Known as the City Nature Challenge ( CNC ), a “ citizen science ” event focusing on urban biodiversity , the contest calls on people around the globe to document nature in their local areas in an effort to better understand urban biodiversity . Starting in 2016 , between the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco in the US , this event went global in 2018 . Hong Kong has participated since that time and now has created its own event between schools , which follows the same format as the CNC with the focus being on students collecting information in and around their school campuses and neighbourhoods .
This year , quite a few schools are participating in the Hong Kong Inter-School City Nature Challenge ( HKISCNC ) in which they compete against each other to log the most species of plants and animals in their geographical area using the free app iNaturalist . Results from last year ’ s HKISCNC amassed 21,000 observations of over 1,400 species in just one week . That data was the accumulation of compiled information from 1,100 students at 35 Hong Kong schools .
The HKISCNC project , funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund and the Environmental Campaign Committee in Hong Kong , is a terrific way for students to find appreciation for and gain a better awareness of the nature surrounding them . The project also provides an opportunity for young people to contribute valuable observations about Hong Kong ’ s urban ecology to assist the scientific community . Not only that , being involved with these projects puts nature in perspective and could be the impetus for positive change to protect natural resources .
More and more of these types of endeavours are coming to light and fall into the category of “ citizen science ”. National Geographic defines the phrase as the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge . Through citizen science , people share and contribute to data monitoring and collection programs .
Kamakshi Bhavnani and Ben Sisse , from West Island School , are leading a group of students mapping wildlife in Hong Kong for the HKISCNC as well as pursuing other projects related to wildlife conservation .
Playtimes had a chance to go out into the field with them on one of their trips to map wildlife in Pui O , Lantau . We were astounded by the knowledge , interest and motivation of these young environmentalists .
How did you get involved with Citizen Science ? Ben : Well , I ' ve been doing citizen science for a long time now . I would go out bird watching and document the species I found using the eBird app . My dad ' s an avid bird watcher so we were just out a lot . By looking closely , you see things you haven ' t really noticed before and that ' s the power of citizen science . It ' s become more of an educational tool for me . Kamakshi : For me , I think I started when I was around eight years old . I went to a Jane Goodall talk where I met and spoke to an inspiring attendee who got me involved . He was running a citizen science program at The Harbour School in Hong Kong . I got involved with a project to test water in Bangladesh . Later I started doing biodiversity mapping in Hong Kong . But well before that , my parents took
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