Free entry at Cape Town nature reserves for Bioblitz weekend
The City of Cape Town will offer free entry at various nature reserves for the Great Southern Bioblitz this weekend. Here’s more details…
Cape Town nature reserves free to visit this weekend
The City of Cape Town will once again participating in the annual Great Southern Bioblitz challenge alongside other cities in the southern hemisphere.
According to the City, various nature reserves will be free to visit for four days this weekend, during the coming Great Southern Bioblitz weekend from Friday, 20 September to Monday, 23 September 2024.
What IS the Great Southern Bioblitz?
The Great Southern Bioblitz is an annual citizen scientist event that takes place during springtime, and is aimed at encouraging people to record and identify wildlife in the southern hemisphere. Anyone can participate by uploading their nature observations onto the iNaturalist app.
Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment said that he was certain Cape Town would win the challenge.
“Much like the popular City Nature Challenge, cities in the southern hemisphere compete against each other to see who can record the widest range of plant and animal species during the course of the challenge. With a wide array of nature reserves, I am certain Cape Town will come out tops and I encourage residents to take along their smartphones or cameras and snap as many unique sightings as they can at the reserves,” Andrews said.
If you’d like to take part in the challenge, simply enter your plant and animal sightings on the iNaturalist app or website. Each observation taken on one of the four challenge days will automatically be included in the challenge.
Which nature reserve can I visit?
The following Cape Town nature reserves will offer free entry over the next four days:
- Blaauwberg Nature Reserve
- Bothasig Fynbos Nature Reserve
- Botterblom Nature Reserve
- Bracken Nature Reserve
- Durbanville Nature Reserve
- Edith Stephens Nature Reserve
- False Bay Nature Reserve
- Harmony Flats Nature Reserve
- Helderberg Nature Reserve
- Steenbras Nature Reserve
- Table Bay Nature Reserve
- Tygerberg Nature Reserve
- Uitkamp Wetland Nature Reserve
- Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserve
- Wolfgat Nature Reserve
- Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve