Di Sekitar Kita: Urban Biodiversity Challenge aims to identify and map habitats and biodiversity that we can find in Malaysian cities, especially those that may be “under the radar”, as well as unpacking preliminary insights into the norms, values, attitudes and perceptions of various stakeholders towards urban biodiversity.

A total of 77% of Malaysia’s population now live in towns and cities, up from approximately 30% in the 1960s. As Malaysia rapidly urbanizes, we need nature-based solutions for cities to be sustainable and resilient. Biodiversity is one such solution. However, there remain gaps in our understanding of urban biodiversity and ecosystems: formal studies of nature in the city have been sporadic, and urban biodiversity remains largely data deficient.

Di Sekitar Kita: Urban Biodiversity Challenge (UBC) aim to identify and map the plant and animal biodiversity in our towns and cities, as well as deepen our understanding of community feelings and sentiments towards urban biodiversity. This citizen science programme, which involves public’s participation in the scientific work took place between 30 April and 9 May 2021 in conjunction with the annual, global City Nature Challenge (CNC).

How to participate

Use iNaturalist app

Find and take photos of any plants and animals (or sound recordings) in city/ town between 30 April and 9 May 2021

Upload observations in iNaturalist and automatically part under “Di Sekitar Kita: Urban Biodiversity Challenge”

Cover area (heat map of observations)

Number of observations

Number of observers

Results Breakdown

State	Number of observations	Number of observers	Number of observations (per observer)
Selangor	8,467	396	21.38
Kuala Lumpur	5,213	209	24.94
Johor	3,696	94	39.32
Penang	974	37	26.32
Negeri Sembilan	887	16	55.44
Perak	585	19	30.79
Sarawak	388	21	18.48
Putrajaya	385	14	27.5
Kelantan	164	7	23.43
Malacca	125	7	17.86
Pahang	117	14	8.36
Perlis	107	3	35.67
Kedah	66	9	7.33
Terengganu	54	7	7.71
Sabah	34	13	2.62
Labuan	1	1	1