Understanding the Challenge
UK bird populations have declined sharply since 1970, threatening critical ecosystem services. As vital indicators of environmental health, their decline signals broader ecological crises. While urban green and blue spaces can harbour significant bird populations and strengthen nature-human bonds, evidence gaps remain regarding which planning and management interventions most effectively conserve urban biodiversity. This pilot study focuses on the Tyne Derwent Way, a nine-mile trail linking Gateshead town centre to the Derwent Valley.
Current citizen-science datasets suffer from critical limitations. Insights from the AHRC project Navigating Urban Ecologies reveal inconsistent collection methods create geographical, temporal, and taxonomic biases, failing to capture the fine-scale intra-urban variations essential for effective conservation planning. This project addresses these gaps through systematic data collection, combining standardised bird surveys with habitat mapping and acoustic monitoring. The findings will provide a replicable methodology for understanding urban biodiversity corridors, transforming how planners and conservation practitioners design resilient, nature-rich urban spaces that support both ecological health and human wellbeing.
Our Approach
The project will be delivered in three stages. First, a co-designed public survey, informed by expert interviews and focus groups with North East community specialists, will identify available datasets, key data gaps, and priorities for citizen science involvement.
Second, AudioMoth recorders will be deployed across five representative sites to capture bird vocalisations during the peak breeding season. Species will be identified using BirdNET, alongside GIS-based analysis of urban drivers of bird diversity.
Finally, a gamified citizen-science annotation workshop will improve data accuracy, expand training datasets, and support public engagement.
The project will act as a rapid pilot for scalable, long-term urban biodiversity monitoring, integrating acoustic sensing, AI analysis, GIS modelling, and participatory citizen science.
Project Lead
Architecture and Built Environment
Email: jiayi.jin@northumbria.ac.uk
Project Themes
