The Gardens are a green oasis of calm and tranquillity located in the UK’s second largest city. But these beautiful gardens, and their four historic glasshouses, aren’t just there to look at; they are designed to be educational and hands-on for everyone who visits.

A year-round varied programme of events at the Gardens is enabling residents and visitors to not only make a positive impact on local wildlife, but wildlife throughout the world.

Events like ‘City Nature Challenge Bioblitz’, and the upcoming ‘Nature Overheard: Tune in to Your Street at the Gardens’, are all contributing to Citizen Science projects.

Citizen science uses the power of collaborative volunteer research to explore or collect huge data sets which could contribute to a genuine scientific breakthrough that changes our understanding of the world.

The Citizen Science events organised at Birmingham Botanical Gardens provide people with meaningful opportunities to connect with wildlife and contribute collectively to the success of recognised national and international research projects.

Through engagement national events and projects like the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch and the City Nature Challenge, Birmingham Botanical Gardens is contributing to remarkable success.

The City Nature Challenge Bioblitz at Birmingham Botanical Gardens was organised in conjunction with the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust (26 -29 April). The collaboration, amongst others in the city, resulted in Birmingham and Black Country having the highest observation numbers in the UK in 2024.

The event was part of the annual National City Nature Challenge, coordinated by The Natural History Consortium. Volunteer participants at Birmingham Botanical Gardens joined nature enthusiasts from more than 650 cities on all seven continents, to take part in the world largest digital BioBlitz event.

The BioBlitz at the Gardens was coordinated by its Conservation Ranger, Sila Bolat. She said: “Community engagement sessions and events like the BioBlitz are vital to helping people learn about and understand the importance of natural habitats for wildlife, not just for animals but for all living things to thrive as a sustainable, healthy ecosystem and planet.

“It’s truly inspiring to witness the impact of our work and the connections we are fostering between our community and the natural world.

“Birmingham Botanical Gardens provides an exceptional opportunity to support and nurture local wildlife right in the heart of the developed city of Birmingham.”

In addition to Citizen Science events, Birmingham Botanical Gardens is also piloting a number of Nature Engagement sessions for families. Led by Sila, participants in the sessions can learn about solitary bees and build bee hotels, participate in bug hunts to understand the local insect groups, or take part in pond dipping to observe the various living species living under the water’s surface.

This weekend, Nature Overheard: Tune in Your Street, will further BBG’s contribution to Citizen Science on 17 August. People aged 11 years and older are invited to get involved in an insect survey at the Gardens.

By taking audio recordings on their mobile phones, participants can contribute to a vital scientific study to understand the impact of road noise pollution on insects and how it affects insect communication near roads.

The recordings will help train an algorithm to identify different insect sounds and their responses to noise pollution.

Sila added: “Getting involved in Nature Overheard: Tune in Your Street, or any community involvement events at the Gardens, is a great opportunity to make a positive impact on our local wildlife as well as contribute to a national effort.

“Your observation efforts can help protect nature in the spaces where you live and inform plans for tackling the ecological emergency in the UK.”

To get involved with Nature Overheard: Tune in Your Street, or any events at Birmingham Botanical Gardens visit: https://birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk/bbg-event/nature-overheard-tune-in-to-your-streets-a-citizen-science-project/