Biodiversity in abundance this July, writes the team at Green Glasgow, with lot’s of great opportunity to get outdoors and explore nature around the city.

In 2015 Glasgow is celebrating Green Year, with a city wide programme that highlights a different theme each month. In July we are looking at biodiversity and the vast array of nature on our doorstep.

While Glasgow city boundary mostly encompasses an urban landscape, there is huge sways of parks and green space. Did you know that Glasgow is home to over 90 parks and formal gardens. These areas are home to loads of different species and habitats.

To promote and celebrate biodiversity during the month of July, Green Year 2015, which is chaired by Bailie Liz Cameron of Glasgow City Council, has teamed up with the RSPB.

In 2014 the RSPB first piloted Glasgow’s Wildlife Garden Festival, with a week of events that including open gardens, citizen science opportunities, and activities for all the family.

For Green Year 2015, the Wildlife Garden Festival is back, and this time with a month-long programme of free, family friendly activities – kicking off on the 1 July.

While there are fun events aimed at engaging all ages with their local species and habitats every day in July (including a worm charming championship with OPAL!) there are several opportunities for people to contribute to citizen science projects.

In particular a number of bioblitz events are scheduled as part of the festival. A bioblitz is an attempt to count and record numbers for all species present on a particular site at a set time – creating a ‘snap shot’ of the biodiversity in that particular place at that moment. By comparing bioblitz data for the same location across years, groups like the RSPB can identify changes and trends in species composition.

If you are interested in taking part in species counts and improving your ID skills, the below Wildlife Garden Festival events are looking for enthusiastic participants (no expert knowledge required!):

  • Sunday 19th 13:00 – 17:00, the Big Butterfly Count is taking place at Robroyston Park, please come along and help survey. Species ID guide will be provided.
  • Saturday 25th 12:00 – 15:00, help Greenspace Possil with a bioblitz at Hamiltonhill Claypits.
  • Sunday 26th 06:00-22:00, take part in RSPB’s Glasgow wide bioblitz, coordinated from Kelvingrove Park.
  • Thursday 30th 13:00 – 15:00, OPAL are surveying life in the hedge at Castlemilk Park, come along and help out while practicing your species ID skills.

For more information on Green Year and Glasgow Wildlife Garden Festival see the Green Year website www.greenglasgow.com

To see the full Glasgow Wildlife Garden Festival programme visit www.glasgowgardenfestival.org

You can also follow Green Year on twitter @greenglasgow for all the latest news and updates.

 

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