5th May marked the official end of the 2025 City Nature Challenge, and the results confirm Hull is more of a biodiverse city than many may realise!
The long weekend saw thousands of observations and species recorded, more participants, and more coverage across the city than ever before. Organised by NEYEDC and supported by a number of local organisations including The Deep, this was the third year Hull participated in the global event.
Building on the success of 2023 and 2024, Hull placed an incredible 7th in the overall UK leaderboard and 8th for number of species, out of 26 participating cities and regions. Despite the small area and fairly limited range of habitats to explore, recorders across Hull made fantastic efforts to extract the maximum out of our area across the recording period of 25th – 28th April.
A total of 7,050 observations were recorded this year, a very small increase of 7 records compared to 2024 (7,043). Participants also managed to beat the species total for 2024, recording 115 more species than last year, giving a total of 1,292. Another fantastic increase in numbers was seen in the number of observers who made records on iNaturalist over the recording weekend, at 75, compared to 63 in 2024. It is encouraging to see the event growing from strength to strength with more people taking part across the city.
Hull remains one of the smallest City Nature Challenge areas in the UK, one of only three regions where the overall area totalled less than 99km2. Adjusting for area size, together observers recorded 86.5 observations and 15.9 species per km2, significantly higher than the adjusted totals for the official top three cities, of which the next highest totals were 12.14 and 1 respectively.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the City Nature Challenge this year, whether making records, verifying records, or holding events. All records from the City Nature Challenge that reach Research Grade status, and have the appropriate license attached will be incorporated into NEYEDC’s reporting database, which is used for local decision-making, research, conservation, and land management.