Press release: Milazzo italian capital of biodiversity with City Nature Challenge

Milazzo has achieved great success in the City Nature Challenge 2024, an international citizen science initiative aimed at involving local communities in the collection of naturalistic observations. The City Nature Challenge is an initiative launched and coordinated by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the California Academy of Sciences, which annually involves thousands of people from cities around the world. This year, the competition included 690 cities in 51 countries and 83,528 participants, resulting in a total of 2,436,844 observations of over 65,682 different species.

MuMa Museo del Mare in Milazzo has organized the City Nature Challenge since 2021, ranking Milazzo as the top city in Italy for the fourth consecutive year in terms of species and observations. Milazzo is also ranked third in Europe and 25th in the world!

This year’s results for Milazzo are extraordinary, with over 20,000 observations of 2,616 species, surpassing cities with millions of inhabitants like Melbourne, London, and Tokyo in the number of observations! Two participants from Milazzo, Adele Schittone and Santi Scibilia, achieved an incredible result, ranking 1st and 2nd in Europe respectively for the number of species observed.

The event took place within the boundaries of the Municipality of Milazzo. A total of 224 participants photographed wild plants and animals, both in the city and in nature, and shared observations of various terrestrial and marine species through the iNaturalist app. Many associations, schools, and local organizations joined the initiative, with several sponsors providing prizes to encourage participants to upload as many observations as possible onto the platform.

Thanks to citizen science, people of all ages, both adults and children, can contribute to collecting data useful to scientists and managers of natural and protected areas, providing valuable information about the biodiversity in the region, with the ultimate goal of raising awareness and protecting the most vulnerable species.

Among the most interesting observations in terms of terrestrial flora and fauna were the rare Sicilian endemic ladybug Tytthaspis phalerata and two threatened species included in the Red List of Italian Plants: the Bee Orchid Ophrys apifera, a rare orchid in Milazzo, and the Viscous Globe Thistle Echinops spinosissimus, a plant at risk of extinction typical of Sicilian flora. Also observed was the Redshank Tringa totanus, a migratory bird never before spotted in Milazzo. Among the most notable marine species was the Violet Sea Scad Schedophilus ovalis, whose sightings are quite rare, especially in juvenile stages.

Thanks to citizen science, all citizens, both adults and children, can contribute to collecting data useful to scientists and managers of natural and protected areas, providing valuable information about the biodiversity present in the area, with the ultimate goal of raising awareness and protecting the most vulnerable species.

As every year, the City Nature Challenge 2024 Milazzo was sponsored by the Municipality of Milazzo and the Capo Milazzo Marine Protected Area. Nationally, it was overseen by the Cluster Biodiversità Italia and CESAB, under the patronage of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, ISPRA, WWF, Marevivo, Citizen Science Italia, and many others. This year, MuMa also received crucial support from the Sicily Environment Fund and Esplora Travel.

The initiative was presented by MuMa and the Sicily Environment Fund during a meeting with the managers of Sicily’s protected natural areas at the Environment Department of the Sicilian Region. Promoting this type of initiative is essential to strengthen the science-society-policy interface and enhance the potential of citizen science to collect updated data on the biodiversity of protected areas.

MuMa Museo del Mare Milazzo thanks all the ‘citizen scientists’ who participated in the “City Nature Challenge 2024 Milazzo,” contributing to promoting and internationally highlighting Milazzo’s unique biodiversity! The results achieved symbolize not only the extraordinary richness of biodiversity but also the strong collaboration and cohesion of the local community.