NSK and Zagreb’s Faculty of Science’s Botanical garden jointly organise BioBlitz event
On Earth Day 2026, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) and the Botanical garden of the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Science (PMF) organised a special citizen science programme – a BioBlitz event held as part of the 2026 Croatian Science Festival.
The event, which the staff of the NSK User Services Department organised in cooperation with the head of the Garden Dr Vanja Stamenković, was prepared for the pupils of the Tituš Brezovački secondary school in Zagreb led by their biology teacher Branka Horvat.
Young explorers’ BioBlitz examination of the fauna of the Zagreb University’s Botanical garden
The young explorers made a field survey into the animal species inhabiting the Garden, photographing them with their mobile phones and using the iNaturalist mobile application as the documentation tool.
In addition to compiling a list of resources on the Garden in NSK’s collections, the Library’s staff also set up a website providing free and easy access to data collected during the survey. Adding these data to the iNaturalist platform, where it is available for analysis and use by researchers from all around the world, the pupils made a valuable contribution to the growth of this open data resource and efforts to further research and preserve global biodiversity.
BioBlitz and libraries: Croatian national green libraries programme
The event was held as part of BioBlitz and libraries, a national green libraries programme which NSK and Zagreb Library Association are jointly running to spotlight the importance of biodiversity and its protection through actively including the public in academic research. Libraries all across Croatia have already joined it by organising their own BioBlitz events, each of which is an important step in bringing closer citizens and the academic community and in advancing the development of open science.
BioBlitz and libraries also promotes and strengthens the role of libraries in achieving sustainability, raising environmental awareness and mobilising all social groups in efforts to preserve natural environment. Furthermore, by taking part in activities focusing on collecting data on biodiversity, libraries are reinforcing their relevance in terms of their part in educating communities about natural environment and its protection and popularising environmentally responsible behaviour and sustainable lifestyles and business policies.
Happy Earth Day!
Photo: © NSK