Hull City Nature Challenge 2025 - the results are in!
The 5th of May 2025 marked the official end of the 2025 City Nature Challenge, and the end of Hull’s third year partaking in this global event. We had yet another fantastic showing this year, with thousands of observations and species recorded, more participants, and more coverage across the city. Read on to find out the official results!
This year’s event built on the success of 2023 and 2024, with Hull placing 7th in the overall UK leaderboard and 8th for number of species, out of 26 participating cities and regions. Once again, the boundaries for our area were kept the same as in previous years, sticking to the official city boundary to gain a true understanding of the biodiversity within it, whilst also allowing us to compare our results and records year-on-year. 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.
Key statistics
A total of 7,050 observations were recorded this year, a very small increase of 7 records compared to 2024 (7,043). We also managed to beat our 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 (or participants) 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 we 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.
Species
In a pattern matching that of 2024, of the 1,229 species recorded at this year’s event, the most represented taxonomic group was plants (43.03%, 525 species), followed by insects (25.5%, 321 species), fungi (12.71%, 163 species), and birds (6.01%, 77 species). Compared to last year, we saw large increases in the number of insects recorded (+114), which accounted for most of the increase in overall number of species. This may have been a result of better weather as well as increased recording effort, with warmer weather enticing out insect groups that weren’t well recorded in previous years (e.g. butterflies).
Our most recorded species this year was the Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, 81 observations) followed by Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris, 59 observations) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria, 56 observations).
Whilst the top two species this year were similar to 2024, where the Harlequin Ladybird was #2 and Cow Parsley #10, by comparison, Speckled Wood was only recorded 9 times in 2024, placing it #172 on the species list. The most common butterfly recorded in 2024 was Green-veined White which itself was only observed 10 times, placing this species #159 in the total list. A total of 9 butterfly species were recorded that year, representing 41 individual observations.
By comparison, in 2025 a total of 10 butterfly species were recorded – a comparable number – but this time in hugely increased numbers, representing 158 observations. This is likely to be due to differences in weather between the event in 2024 and 2025, which was colder in the former. However, the vast increase in records of Speckled Wood, even compared to other butterfly species, suggests a particularly good year for this species. Strengthening this suggestion is the fact that this pattern appears to be replicated across the UK, with the top 10 CNC regions in the UK this year having Speckled Wood as their most recorded butterfly species (9 cities) or tied for the most recorded butterfly species (1 city) and being the 27th most common species when combining observations across all 26 participating regions.
An unexpected visitor! (Image by Andrew Steele)
Other highlights this year included the threatened Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius), Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) and Linnet (Linaria cannabina), both declining Red List birds, and Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus). Another highlight was this Red Fox, who decided they’d make it easy for one of our recorders by making its way into their office at work!
Recorders and recording area
Map of 2025 recording locations.
Recording coverage for the 2025 event was even greater than 2024, with almost all green spaces and key recording areas covered. This included recording at Pickering Road Community Orchard, Garrowby Orchard, along sections of the River Hull, East, Pickering, and Alderman Kneeshaw parks, the Avenues, Sculcoates, Oak Road Playing Fields, and more. Activities at some of these sites for the challenge included bug hunts, pond dipping, and bat walks.
This year we had 12 more recorders taking part via iNaturalist compared to 2024, bringing our official total to 75 participants, not including those who verified records. It is fantastic to see participation in the Hull CNC increase, and new names making records on iNaturalist. Alongside collecting important data, one of the goals of the City Nature Challenge is to engage communities with nature and encourage people to observe and appreciate the biodiversity on their doorstep; something we hope an increase in recorders is reflecting!
Members of Team NEYEDC recording on Friday 25th in Hull
We’d like to say a huge 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.
The City Nature Challenge was organised this year by NEYEDC, alongside The Deep, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the University of Hull, Hull Culture & Leisure, Hull City Council, and other local groups and partners. See you in 2026!