WCS Bolivia issued the following report on the great success achieved by residents of La Paz as they excelled in the global “City Nature Challenge,” coming in second with 46,932 observations of nature. The world-wide challenge is organized by the California Academy of Sciences and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.

WCS Bolivia participated by proposing La Paz as a participating city and then leading the organization of the event through a local organizing committee.

Rob Wallace of WCS Bolivia wrote this report about the challenge:

Reto Ciudad Naturaleza La Paz 2019 became a real challenge for the citizens of La Paz. For four days between the 26th and 29th of April, a swarm of students and teachers from schools and universities, citizens environmental groups, naturalists, photographers, researchers, teenagers and adults, spent a chunk of time observing and photographing the species of the gardens and parks of the city, as well as the urban protected areas and surrounding natural areas of the metropolitan region of La Paz, made up of eight municipalities: La Paz, El Alto, Palca, Mecapaca, Achocalla, Viacha, Laja and Pucarani, covering an area of 7,284 square kilometers.

The results are outstanding: La Paz came second in the number of observations category (46,931 photographic records), with Cape Town, South Africa finishing in first place. The photographic records were shared on a global citizen science phenomenon called iNaturalist, the second largest citizen science initiative with more than 20 million records so far. This platform can be used year-round and promotes the idea that each and every citizen can generate useful information about Nature and biodiversity distribution around the world.

This year, with 159 cities competing, the four-day City Nature Challenge generated almost one million photographic records and this citizen-generated information is significant, as it increases the number of distribution points for a plethora of species, as well as natural history data. In La Paz, this is especially important for threatened species such as the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) or the orange-breasted falcon (Falco deiroleucus), both of which were registered. Conversely, many of the records were of introduced species, especially ornamental plants which play an important role in the aesthetic appearance as well as the reforestation of areas affected by erosion.

Once the data started flying in, Bolivian scientists and experienced naturalists were charged with the daunting task of identifying more than 40,000 photographs. This taxonomic shoot-out left La Paz in eighth place at the end of the competition period with 3,005 species of plants, fungi invertebrates and vertebrates identified, but over time this will gradually increase as more of the species are identified into the future. Reto Ciudad Naturaleza also increased the number of species known to occur in the region. For example, a fish species from the Orestias genus was observed at a higher altitude within the Amazonian basin than ever before. The mountain parakeet (Psilopsiagon aurifrons) was observed and photographed for the first time in the La Paz valley by local photographer Gabriel Archondo, which also represented a new altitudinal record for this species in Bolivia. Indeed, La Paz was the city with the most records of new species on iNaturalist for a given city (2,273 species).

However, the most exciting result was the number of participants in the Reto Ciudad Naturaleza, with 1,500 people placing La Paz in third place, just behind the two cities that began the City Nature Challenge in 2016 and were into their fourth years´ participation: San Francisco and Los Angeles. This incredible debut demonstrates a wonderful interest in wildlife, biodiversity, and green spaces from the urban population of La Paz, as well as a willingness to participate in citizen science initiatives that can ultimately help improve city planning and urban conservation efforts.

Students and professors from four universities were key participants in the Challenge. Students from the El Alto Public University visited the iconic Ánimas valley, whereas participants from the Bolivian Catholic University went to the Achocalla lakes, and the Military Engineering School photographed the plants and animals of the Koani forests. Finally, the students from the San Andrés University (UMSA) provided crucial support to teachers and students from schools and colleges in La Paz and El Alto interested in participating in the Challenge.

With the support of the Ministry of Education, the participation and interest shown by 35 schools in La Paz and El Alto were absolutely fundamental in the overall success of the Challenge in La Paz. The enthusiasm for photographing and enjoying Nature shown by teachers and students alike was inspiring, and while some schools concentrated in their own school grounds, as well as surrounding streets, parks and plazas, others organized field trips to more remote parts of the city (Pampalarama, Achocalla, Mallasa, Mecapaca and Choquenaira) to increase the number of observations.

EMAVERDE, together with the much-loved and now world-famous zebras and the Environmental Management Secretariat of the La Paz Municipality, prepared a photographic route using free public transport to visit a series of urban parks (Pura Pura, Las Cebras, Laikacota, Jardín Botánico, Gimnasio de Achumani, La Florida, Túpac Katari, Bartolina Sisa, Mallasa), as well as two urban protected areas (Auquisamaña, Bolognia). This further incentivized La Paz citizens to get out and visit the cities green spaces, photograph and observe biodiversity, and reconnect with nature.

Finally, to register species in the most remote areas of the La Paz metropolitan region, five teams of biodiversity researchers visited nine field sites: Mecapaca, la Cumbre, Carreras, Tahuapalca, Chicani, Sillutincara, Zongo, Guanay and Lake Titicaca. This ensured that overall Reto Ciudad Naturaleza was able to sample diverse habitats including the high Andean plains and waterways, as well as the tropical montane forests within the eight municipalities.

The organizing committee of the Reto Ciudad Naturaleza made up of the Biology Department of the UMSA, the Institute of Ecology, the National Museum of Natural History and the Wildlife Conservation Society would also like to thank the 17 scientific institutions, citizen environmental groups and businesses that supported the Challenge, including Asociación Boliviana de Ornitología, Programa para la Conservación de los Murciélagos de Bolivia, Sociedad Boliviana de Entomología, Nuestros Vecinos Silvestres, Natural Zone, La Paz Biodiversa, ALWA, Red O2, Club Ornitológico de La Paz, Naturalistas Achumani, Colegio de Biólogos, Banco BISA, Encuestas y Estudios, Alpha Systems and the Gustu, Jardín de Asia and Roaster Boutique restaurants. Various local media outlets also promoted this activity with urban citizens, helping La Paz position in the highest places for this global citizen science biodiversity activity.

Together the participants achieved the overall goal of the City Nature Challenge, with significant numbers of people reconnecting with Nature in the city, exploring the green spaces within and natural areas beyond the city, and thereby contributing significantly to biodiversity knowledge for the metropolitan area. An amazing debut and wonderful triumph for the La Paz people, whose commitment and action has revealed a profound relationship with the city itself and its wildlife. Roll on City Nature Challenge 2020.

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