National Chiayi University has signed up for the City Nature Challenge and called on Taiwanese to participate to increase the nation’s international exposure, as well as global biodiversity archives.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences in 2016 held the first challenge, which calls on people to take photographs of wild plants and animals, and to upload them on a cellphone app called iNaturalist, assistant professor Lin Cheng-tao (林政道) said.
Lin said he is confident that Chiayi County would be able to contribute much, as it boasts a diverse ecology ranging from wetlands to mountains, including Yushan (玉山).
Photo: CNA, courtesy of National Chiayi University
The university enrolled in the challenge under the name Chiayi County, Lin added.
Lin called on people to visit the county and upload their photographs of any wild flora and fauna, including evidence of animal activity, such as droppings, hair or scales.
Unknown fauna is acceptable, as the uploader only needs to categorize the photograph as either animal or plant, Lin said, adding that other users of the iNaturalist platform would identify the plant or animal.
Taiwanese users have logged 100,000 items since Lin translated the app into Mandarin a year-and-a-half ago.
Meanwhile, the New Taipei City Government said it is observing Earth Day by promoting environmental consciousness with a raffle that is to last through May 5.
Observing April 22 as Earth Day began in the US in 1970 and it became an annual global event in 1990. The theme this year was “Protect Our Species.”
This year’s theme aims to heighten public awareness about why species are becoming extinct at a faster pace, as well as the potential consequences of such losses of biodiversity, the city government said on Sunday.
The event intends to bring New Taipei City residents closer to nature, the New Taipei Department of Environmental Protection said.
People need to fill out an event form and submit captioned photographs of wild animals or plants taken anywhere in the city to the department’s Facebook page to be eligible to participate in the raffle, it said.
Prizes include electric scooters and air purifiers, it added.
The top photographs are to be revealed at an event on June 5 to mark World Environment Day, and are to be exhibited at Banciao Station through Dragon Boat Festival on June 7.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) has also launched his own event on Facebook calling on city residents to build environments for wild plants and animals, and to observe them closely.
The UN in 1972 designated June 5 as World Environment Day. The focus of this year’s day is air pollution.
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