Accessing Urban Nature Initiative

What makes AUNI unique is its One Health approach, which recognizes the interconnected health of animals, people, and the environment. The initiative goes beyond simply cataloging species to investigate whether wildlife populations are thriving, how urban environments affect animal health, and how access to nature benefits human wellbeing. The data generated by AUNI helps to inform conservation strategies, urban planning, and public education efforts that support healthier ecosystems and more resilient cities.

AUNI connects people with the wildlife that share their neighborhoods. Through partnerships with schools, zoos, parks, nature centers, and other community organizations, the initiative fosters environmental stewardship, deepens curiosity about local biodiversity, and creates new educational opportunities and meaningful pathways for community engagement. As a partner of the Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN), AUNI is contributing to global solutions that enable both wildlife and human communities to thrive together.

Mission

AUNI leverages interdisciplinary research, a network of community partners, and monitoring technology to advance understanding of urban wildlife ecology in the Philadelphia region. By generating actionable knowledge about biodiversity, animal health, and human-wildlife interactions, AUNI supports evidence-based conservation and works alongside partners to translate findings into education, environmental stewardship, and community engagement.

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Why This Matters

By 2050, nearly 70% of people will live in cities. As urban life becomes more disconnected from nature, public support for protecting nature is also declining. This is the challenge at the heart of global biodiversity policy. The historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework supports the Sustainable Development Goals and sets an ambitious pathway to achieve the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Among the Framework’s key elements are 23 targets for 2030. Target 12 calls for enhancing urban green space “for human well-being and biodiversity” alike, recognizing that these goals are interdependent.

AUNI is built at that intersection. Our trail camera network across Philadelphia generates rigorous ecological data on urban wildlife and turns those data into direct encounters with nature for the communities living alongside it. When a student sees a coyote or flying squirrel photographed in their own schoolyard, conservation stops being abstract and becomes personal.