Highlights of the Biodiversity Challenge 2026 at UM
From 30 April to 2 July 2026, students and staff were invited to take part in the national Biodiversity Challenge. The challenge encouraged participants to discover and identify as many species as possible within a defined area over a limited period of time. Together with 53 other Higher Education Institutes across the Netherlands (#biodiversitychallenge2026), we set out to highlight the rich and diverse wildlife that exists all around us. The overall national ending result is that with more than 4,000 students, colleagues, and visitors, we recorded over 4,500 different species. The winners of the national photo competition can be found here.
At UM, we organised 7 activities in which you were able to partake in. Find below a recap of some of UM’s highlights.
Workshop Bee Hotspot
At the Bee Hotspot in Randwyck, near Oxfordlaan 55, staff and students joined forces to help maintain a thriving habitat for native pollinators by creating sunny bare dirt spots for ground nesting bees and space for endemic bee-pollinator plants. Guided by Peter Alblas of CNME, participants worked together to plant and prune vegetation that supports more than 60 bee species—essential contributors to a healthy ecosystem. To get a sense of the atmosphere and activities, take a look at the video from last year’s Bee Hotspot workshop.
Lunchwalks at Randwyck and Tapijn
Colleagues and students joined together at our campus area at Randwyck and Tapijn to observe and record biodiversity sightings with the app ObsIdentify. It was a great reminder that nature is all around us — even in our everyday work environment. Using the app ObsIdentify we were able to track some of the local species here at the Tapijn area with the most magical names. Think of the maternity web spider, checkerboard fly and the rare Spider’s Herb bee. At Randwyck we found the Checkerboard ladybird, the Lesser clouded longhorn beetle and the Lichen running spider.
Moth trapping and owl spotting
In the hidden courtyard behind the Zwingelput (UCM), staff and students were able to discover what wildlife comes out into the urban environment at night. The rain didn't spoil the fun that evening. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any owls. However, we did see and hear some pipistrelle bats. UM colleagues Linnea van Griethuijsen brought her batdetector, so we were able to hear them very clearly!
Yardstick workshop FASoS garden
FSE students organised a workshop in the FASoS garden, where we worked with the Biodiversity Yardstick. This method to estimate biodiversity, moves the focus away from counting species to identifying conditions favorable for high biodiversity. Participants were divided into two groups and filled in a shortened version of the Yardstick while analysing the site's biodiversity. It was an enjoyable and engaging workshop, during which we learned a lot!
All in all it was a month dedicated to biodiversity and fun events and activities. Want to know more about biodiversity at UM? Read our UM webpage on biodiversity. Contact the UM Sustainability Office.
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