Cities to hold events for world nature challenge

Residents are being asked to take pictures and record any wildlife they spot during the four days

People across the West Midlands are being invited to take part in a worldwide nature challenge to record urban wildlife.

Wolverhampton and Birmingham will join places across the globe for the City Nature Challenge which will see people find and take pictures of different species in the wild.

The free international challenge, which began in 2016, takes place this year from Friday until Monday.

People's findings will help bring in information to help with keeping track of the state of wildlife across the region, a spokesperson for the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust said.

Those who want to take part are being asked to use a free smartphone app, iNaturalist, to take photos of any plant or animal and the app will then share those with the trust.

Last year's challenge saw more than 12,866 recordings of 1,340 different species in the West Midlands, the spokesperson added.

A number of free events and walks will be held in the area for the challenge including:

• Birmingham: Sarehole Mill on Friday from 11:00-15:30 BST

• Sandwell: Portway Hill nature reserve on Friday from 13:00-15:00 BST

• Walsall: Palfrey Park on Friday from 11:00-14:00 BST

• Wolverhampton: Smestow Valley nature reserve on Saturday from 10:00-15:00 BST

• Birmingham: Highfield Hall and Grounds on Saturday from 10:00-16:00 BST

• Birmingham: Botanical Gardens on Sunday from 10:30 to 16:00 BST.

A full list of events can be found on the trust website.