Biodiversity Challenge 2026
In May and june, we pay attention to biodiversity at the Utrecht Science Park every year, in collaboration with Utrecht University.
You can participate in all kinds of nature excursions, and we conduct joint research on which plants, animals, and fungi live in the Utrecht Science Park (USP). We invite you to go outside and discover and register as many species as possible during the Biodiversity challenge. With the data we collect together, we gain insight into the state of biodiversity in the USP. Will you join us?
How do you participate?
Go out and keep your eyes and ears open. Do you spot a plant, an animal or a fungus? Take a photo of it. We are specifically looking for wild species. By registering your observations through the app ObsIdentify or waarneming.nl, we will create an overview of the species living in USP. Who knows, we might even discover new species!
If you’d like, you can join this Signal group where we share our experiences and discoveries.
How to install and use the ObsIdentify app?
Excursions & lectures
During the Bioblitz you can participate in various nature excursions. Participation is free.
May 12: Wild foraging walk
May 13: Evening excursion: moths
May 27: Birdwatching excursion
June 2: City safari Utrecht City Center
June 4: Gliding
June 9: Botanical walk Utrecht Science Park
June 11: Nature journaling at Utrecht Science Park
June 16: Tour of Amelisweerd
June 18: Lunch excursion: wild species in the Botanical Gardens
June 18: Mini symposium: Insects & AI in the City (English)
June 25: Forest bathing walk
July 2: Closing event Biodiversity Challenge
Lunchtime walks on Mondays
Join us outside during lunch and help map local plant and animal species at the USP using the ObsIdentify app. PhD student Petros Constantinides, who is researching which species are present on campus, will guide the walk. Download the app in advance following the instructions. No registration is required.
Dates: May 4, May 18, June 1, and June 15
Starting point: Vening Meinesz Building A002
Photo contest
Have you taken a very beautiful photo of a species during the Biodiversity Challenge? Share your photo with us and have a chance to become the winner of the public prize or the jury prize. Check it out.
Strengthening biodiversity in USP
Since 2022, we have been working on strengthening biodiversity at Utrecht Science Park. For example, the thirty-four hectares of grass on campus are mowed less frequently and in phases. Robust ecological connections with the surrounding area will also be created in the coming years. Our goal is to bring twenty guide species back to the USP by 2035.
Bioblitzes across the country
Not only at Utrecht Science Park a Bioblitz is organised. In the Sister Parks of Utrecht (‘Utrechtse Zusterparken’) and at universities and universities of applied sciences throughout the country, people are monitoring species.