Citizen Science

Sauvages de ma rue (Wildlife in my street), observe wild plants in the city

Cities are known to condense growing populations into limited areas, but are also home to a particular flora. If you live in the city, take the time to observe the plants growing around you! You will learn more about them and be of service to the researchers studying them. With the Sauvages de ma rue citizen science program, nothing could be simpler!

Nature in the city

Urban vegetation serves many purposes: it moderates heat islands, helps to clean up the air and water, and detoxifies the soil. It is also the only link with nature some city dwellers have. This makes it is invaluable for our quality of life, our well-being and even our health. To better understand the state of this biodiversity and the mechanisms that can affect it, there is a citizen science program to which you can easily contribute: Sauvages de ma rue (Wildlife on my street).

All over France

This program, set up in 2011, enables you to identify the plant species that grow wild in the environment around you. Whatever town or city you live in, set out on a scientific adventure that’s open to all, as the program covers all regions of France. Thanks to the contribution of the general public, research in urban ecology is now making faster progress, as is knowledge of biodiversity. The information collected is also useful for local authorities, who can foster the diversity of the flora in their areas.

High research potential

Scientists have already identified interesting phenomena, such as urban gradients: the closer you get to the city centre, the fewer different plant species you find, with those that remain preferring higher temperatures. The program makes it possible to monitor the evolution of street flora over time, in relation to different management methods or more global changes such as global warming. It explores questions of ecology, botany and even social sciences based on the participants' profiles.

The user manual

Contributing is very simple: just pick a street and open your eyes! Look around the trunks of the trees, scan the pavements, lawns and walls with the botanical guide and field sheet provided. All you have to do is find out which of the 240 plant species listed in the protocol drawn up by the researchers are there. Make a note of the starting and finishing points of your exploration, and the date of your outing. For each plant, indicate the environment in which it flourishes. If necessary, photograph the plant so you can check its identification. After that, all you have to do is enter the data collected via the Sauvages de ma rue website or mobile application and send it to the Museum's researchers.

To participate, go to the Sauvages de ma rue website

To participate

If you wish to register to the observatory of participative sciences "Sauvages de ma rue", go to the dedicated website.

The "Sauvages de ma rue" observatory website

The Sauvages de ma rue program is coordinated in partnership with Tela Botanica.