Expedition Singelpark

Scientific research with locals and schools on the biodiversity of the Singelpark in Leiden.

With the project Expedition Singelpark we will do an inventory of the biodiversity in the Singelpark in Leiden together with locals and schools. This circular park of almost 6.5 km around the old city centre of Leiden was created by connecting a series of individual park areas.

Due to the varied character of the different park areas (old cemeteries, traditional parks, the Hortus botanicus, recently constructed playgrounds and dog parks, etcetera) it is expected that the biodiversity is high, but for a large part this is still unknown. For example, the invertebrates (that together form more than half of the biodiversity) are largely unknown. In this project we want to change that by focusing mostly on invertebrates, but also mosses and lichens.

Foto: Marc de Haan
Foto: Yako Joven

When?

The first inventory is on the 25th of March in the park area that lies against the Vreewijk. We will gather at 13.30 on the corner of the Witte Rozenstraat and the Witte Singel and it will take about two hours. As soon as the dates and locations of expeditions in other parts of the Singelpark are known they will be listed on this webpage. Would you like to help organizing an inventory? Or would you like to participate together with a group of neighbours or students? Send an email to: info@taxonfoundation.com.

How does it work?

From March 2023 onwards we repeatedly go “on expedition” in parts of the Singelpark. We will set up a field laboratory with tubes, petri dishes, nets, and microscopes with which the collected specimens can be observed and processed. With the help of experts, the participants learn how and where they can find and identify animals, mosses, and lichens, so that after the expedition they have the knowledge and skills to keep on monitoring nature in the Singelpark by themselves.

Foto: Marc de Haan
Foto: Marc de Haan

How to participate?

Everyone who is interested, of all ages, can participate, although the number of participants is sometimes limited. If and how you can participate will be mentioned with every activity that is being announced. Do you want to help organize an expedition in your neighbourhood? Please contact us!

And after?

In the period after the inventory experts will process the finds in a report that will be shared and discussed with the participants. We might just find thousands of species in the entire Singelpark. Therefore, it might take a while before each report is finished. In the meantime, the results can be tracked via waarneming.nl and Stadsnatuurmeetnet. After all inventories are done a final report will be written with the results of the entire Singelpark.

For this project Taxon Foundation collaborates with: Gemeente Leiden, Stichting Vrienden van het Singelpark, Stichting Vrienden van de Leidse Hortus, Hortus botanicus Leiden, De Grachtwacht, Onder Water in Leiden, Naturalis, and Universiteit Leiden.