Hyderabad tops City Nature Challenge for second time

Hyderabad was in the second position in Asia after Hong Kong and 13th in the world in the world where 670 plus cities and towns participated in the annual global event.

Sangareddy: Hyderabad was among the top cities for the second time in a row among cities and towns from across the world that participated in City Nature Challenge-2024 which was conducted for four days from April 26 to 29.

Hyderabad had started participating in the event in 2023. While Hyderabad was first in the country, Nanakmatta in Uttarakhand came second in the country. Hyderabad was in the second position in Asia after Hong Kong and 13th in the world in the world where 670 plus cities and towns participated in the annual global event. La Paz, Bolivia, Monterrey Mexico and San Antonio stood in the first three positions in the world.

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During the four-day event, 527 observers have checked 2,092 species which include flora and fauna. These observers have made 34,388 observations during the four days. Neem Tree (262) and Sacred Fig (135) were the most observed plants while Peacock (206) and Red-vented bulbul were the most observed bird species in Hyderabad.

Speaking to Telangana Today, seasoned birdwatcher Sriram Reddy has said that there was a considerable increase in participation of observers from across the world. He has said that the number of participants had increased from last year’s 350 to 527 this year. The increased participation has been reflected in results as the number of species identified increased to 2,092 from last year’s 1,900.

The City Nature Challenge was started by Alison Young and Rebecca Johnson of the California Academy of Sciences and Lila Higgins of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The competition was initially confined to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Later, it was extended to other parts of the world. The aim of the City Nature Challenge was to document urban biodiversity.