Appreciating Nature in Lockdown
Recording wildlife in our cities' backyards
A hard COVID-19 lockdown and the fifth iNaturalist City Nature Challenge teach six southern African cities that conservation and environmental awareness begin at home
Dr Tony Rebelo and Dr Alanna Rebelo
This year, the fifth three-day iNaturalist City Nature Challenge coincided with the height of a hard Covid-19 lockdown. In this global nature hunt, the public was encouraged, as citizen scientists, to go out and explore its cities and report on the animals and plants sharing our world. With everyone confined to their homes worldwide (and only some fortunate enough to have gardens or balconies), this posed a major challenge for a nature hunt.
It has already become difficult to remember that, in South Africa, we were allowed out only for medical emergencies and food – which meant that any interaction with nature was confined to one’s home. But this was only the beginning and an exciting, ongoing project observing nature at home during the COVID-19 pandemic now features on iNaturalist.
Lockdown is no excuse for passivity in a megadiverse country such as South Africa and many people have now discovered the wonders of a nectar feeder or the power of a half apple and a handful of seeds left outside. Many birds and critters can be enticed to visit while human visitors are forbidden. Being restricted to our homes has far from isolated us. It has marked a time during which we have learnt to engage with the wildlife in our houses and gardens.
Species most frequently observed by Cape Town’s citizen scientists during lockdown (dated: 1 June 2020)
You might ask how it’s possible to interact with nature under such circumstances. If you have a garden, you can, for example, look for and record the elusive Dwarf Chameleon or have a garden party and record all the critters visiting the flowers, the plants or your picnic. Night owls might hold a night expedition and look for spiders and insects by their eyeshine – and they’d also perhaps spot pale chameleons and other denizens of the night like praying mantises, crickets and frogs.
No garden is no excuse not to participate. You might do bird surveys from your windows, set up moth traps (sheets illuminated with a bright light) or build insect hotels or nesting boxes. Inside our homes, geckos, mosquitoes and other goggas might entertain or infuriate us, but they should certainly educate us.
If you are feeling lonely, isolated and socially distanced, you have only to peek into the corners or under beds to find ants, house flies or, perhaps, cockroaches and bed bugs. But, besides these obvious pests, there is also a great diversity of moths, fishmoths, spiders and beetles to be found. It always helps to maintain a perspective of the value of all life when one considers that each creature is visiting our dwelling for a very good reason, and many of them are actually cleaning up after us or helping keep down pest numbers.
Species most frequently observed by Garden Route citizen scientists during lockdown (dated: 1 June 2020)
A SUCCESSFUL CHALLENGE DESPITE LOCKDOWN
And so began the tale of the six cities. And it was against the broader Lockdown Challenge that the City Nature Challenge took place in 2020. Six cities in southern Africa took part (of 244 worldwide): Cape Town, the Garden Route, Durban, Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane and Gaberone.
Cape Town again – for the second year running – scored top spot for the number of nature observations (34 254). Interestingly, almost a quarter of Cape Town’s observations were collected by Scouts. Although the Garden Route “only” made position 10, it was the second city for observations outside of the United States.
Expressing her amazement at the results, Dr Eleanor Yeld Hutchings from the Biodiversity Management Branch of the City of Cape Town said: “For a country in hard lockdown I think it’s unbelievable how much we managed to do.”
Species most frequently observed by Nelson Mandela Bay citizen scientists during lockdown (dated: 1 June 2020)
Cape Town’s top observer was Grade 11 learner Jeremy Gilmore, who racked up 834 observations. Several hundred observations from a garden is no mean feat. Jeremy is one of Cape Town’s youth, and he has as much a passion for learning about indigenous flora as he has for protecting that which we have left. In his spare time, he joins the Friends of Tokai Park in hacking alien trees in Tokai Park to protect the Fynbos.
Our City Nature Challenge success was perhaps not surprising in a country like South Africa, where we have an estimated 67 000 animal species and over 20 400 plant species described. We have around 7% of the world’s vascular plant species, 5% of its mammal, 7% of its bird, 4% of its reptile, 2% of its amphibian, 1% of its freshwater fish and 16% of its shark, skate and ray species. And not only this. Around half to two-thirds of the species in each of these groups are found only in South Africa.
Species most frequently observed by Durban citizen scientists during lockdown (dated: 1 June 2020)
NATURE AND LOCKDOWN
So who lives with us and shares our intimate urban environment? Many residents have recorded the life around them during lockdown. We can learn a lot from what people have found and shared.
In the Fynbos, of course, birds featured highly, but Cape Town‘s top positions go to the Dwarf Chameleon, Marble Leaftoe Gecko, the Honeybee and Brown Garden Snail (an invasive alien: you know the one) with the Redeye Dove making position five. In the Garden Route, where Fynbos meets forest, birds took all the honours: Cape Weaver, Greater Double-Collared Sunbird, Redeye Dove, Fiscal Shrike (Jannie) and the Speckled Mousebird.
At the interface of the Fynbos and thicket biomes, Nelson Mandela Bay featured the Common Dwarf Gecko, Tropical House Gecko, Honeybee, Citrus Swallowtail and Common Blue in its top five. Would you have guessed that the four most recorded animals in Durban are butterflies – with the Common Bush Brown, Natal Pansy, Dark Blue Pansy and Citrus Swallowtail leading the pack and a dragonfly, the Julia Skimmer, in spot number five?
Species most frequently observed by Tshwane citizen scientists during lockdown (dated: 1 June 2020)
Staying with the grassland biome, the city of Tshwane recorded Honeybee, Spiny Sugar Ant, Laughing Dove, Hadeda and Common Dwarf Gecko as the species most commonly found in gardens. And Gaberone was off the charts, literally. Of the top five animals, only one moth, the Vestal, has a common name: the other antlions, moths, bugs and beetles still need to become better known before they are baptised with vernaculars.
Who would have thought that the tale of six cities could be so different, so rich and so exciting? We should take stock of the animals and plants that share our homes and gardens (for example using the iNaturalist app). Conservation and environmental awareness definitely begin at home.
Species most frequently observed by Gaborone, Botswana citizen scientists during lockdown (dated: 1 June 2020)
Further reading
See the following links to the Lockdown nature hunts for each of the six cities:
Authors’ note
Dr Tony Rebelo is affiliated with the South African National Biodiversity Institute and Dr Alanna Rebelo is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Conservation Ecology & Entomology at Stellenbosch University.
Images
All wildlife images courtesy iNaturalist.
