City of Peterborough Invites Public to Celebrate Nature During the Great Canadian BioBlitz

The City of Peterborough invites residents to celebrate nature's beauty and learn more about local biodiversity during the Great Canadian BioBlitz until Saturday.

Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.

A bioblitz is a fun and educational way to record observations of plants, animals, and fungi that helps scientists better understand local population sizes and biodiversity trends.  

Tahe Great Canadian BioBlitz encourages people of all ages to explore parks and natural spaces and contribute to citizen science.   

“The Great Canadian BioBlitz offers residents a chance to learn about the quality and quantity of habitat available within Peterborough’s urban parks, community gardens, and other naturalized landscapes,” said Jasmine Gibson, the City of Peterborough’s Planning Ecologist. “Every species documented helps map important green spaces that sustain our community’s biodiverse natural heritage system. With the support of enthusiastic community members lending their knowledge and talents during the Great Canadian BioBlitz can help improve the City’s natural heritage map.” 

Residents are encouraged to visit a City park to participate in a self-guided bioblitz using the iNaturalist app to record nature observations. A full list of the City’s parks can be found at peterborough.ca/parks.

The Peterborough Field Naturalists are leading two guided walks at Mark S. Burnham Provincial Park to help residents learn more about native mushrooms living in the region. The walk takes place on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Space is limited. Register for the walks at peterboroughnature.org/events. 

A white oak tree has been planted in Beavermead Park to mark the weeklong event and further enhance tree biodiversity.   

Nature sightings can be uploaded directly to the Great Canadian BioBlitz project page in the iNaturalist app.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.