The Seoul Metropolitan Government will be hosting BioBlitz Seoul 2026 at Mount Acha in eastern Seoul's Gwangjin District from Sept. 12-13, the city said Thursday, inviting citizens and experts to spend 24 hours discovering, observing and documenting local wildlife species.

Located on the eastern edge of the capital along the border with Guri, Gyeonggi Province, Mount Acha serves as a critical ecological link connecting the urban core to the broader green belts of eastern Seoul, making its preservation vital for maintaining the city's biodiversity and wildlife corridors.

Unlike last year's single-day schedule, this year's event returns to an intensive two-day, 24-hour format to deepen ecological exploration with specialized activities, including night insect tracking and early-morning bird watching. Featuring forests, streams, wetlands, and grasslands, the mountain offers a rich habitat for urban wildlife.

Launched in 2015, the program operates out of the Achasan Ecological Park base camp and features three core components: an offline exploration division, expert dialogue sessions and public exhibition booths. For the offline exploration, a team of 60 students and adults will work directly alongside taxonomy experts to log findings, while another team of 140 elementary students and adults will explore four out of seven species categories — including plants, insects, spiders, amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, birds and fungi. These field surveys will be complemented by expert-led discussions to review discovered species and calculate the final tally, alongside seven public interactive booths open to all park visitors.

In addition, a preevent online campaign will run from Sept. 1-11 via the Naturing mobile app, encouraging residents across Seoul to spot and record 55 designated protected wildlife species. Applications for the 200 participant spots open on Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. on the Seoul Parks website with a participation fee of 20,000 won ($15).

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.