THE Habitat Penang Hill is calling everyone to get closer to nature and take part in the Penang Island City Nature Challenge (PICNC) 2019.
The lead organisers of the challenge are The Habitat Penang Hill and The Habitat Foundation. It is supported by Penang Hill Corporation, Friends of Penang Botanic Gardens Society, Malaysian Primatological Society, Malaysian Nature Society and several other departments and organisations.
The Habitat Foundation general manager Justine Vaz said the Foundation was proud to support the PICNC 2019.
“Penangites will be competing against participants from over 160 cities globally to log the highest number of species observation at their surrounding areas using the citizen science iNaturalist application.
“Smartphone users can download the App to take part in the global challenge. The challenge is aimed at cultivating interest and raising awareness on preserving biodiversity,” she said today in Komtar.
The Habitat Foundation website stated that this was the first year that the Penang island was taking part.
The challenge will run from April 26 to 29. It will feature many supporting events to be held at various locations.
Participants will need to observe the flora and fauna, and log their observations using the iNaturalist App.
The top three participants with the most observations on iNaturalist stand a chance to win cash prizes of RM1,000, RM700 and RM500. The winners also stand to win attractive Habitat merchandise.
Justine said that a number of ‘special clinics’ would be held over the next few weeks to help people familiarise themselves with the iNaturalist App.
State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said the recent Penang Island Inter-Secondary City Nature Challenge attracted about 2,440 secondary school students from over 32 schools.
“An outstanding 60,080 observations were recorded in a single day!
“The winning team comprised of Form Five students from Chung Ling High School. The team recorded the highest number of observations and the team (together with their teacher advisor) won an all-expense paid trip to Hong Kong to take part in the Hong Kong City Nature Challenge 2019 from April 26 to 29.
“The three top observers in the individual category also received attractive prizes. They were from SMJK Chung Hwa Confucian, SMK Convent Light Street and SMJK Chung Ling.”
The Penang Island Inter-Secondary City Nature Challenge was held on Feb 23 this year.
Also present at the press conference today The Habitat Penang Hill and The Habitat Foundation managing director Allen Tan and The Habitat Penang Hill Environmental Education head Ahmad Zafir.
Visit https://habitatfoundation.org.my/2019/01/07/penang-island-takes-on-the-cities-of-the-world-in-the-global-city-nature-challenge-2019/ for more details or e-mail to lingeswarry@the habitat.my
Story by Danny Ooi
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi