València now has its first urban sound biodiversity map thanks to BIOSOUNDSCAPE, an innovative project led by Gema Piñero, researcher at the Audio and Communications Signal Processing Group (GTAC) of the iTEAM at the Universitat Politècnica de València.
Through a network of sensors installed in green areas such as the Turia Gardens and the Albufera, soundscapes are captured in real time. These sounds are processed by an artificial intelligence system capable of identifying bird species and acoustic patterns. The information obtained becomes a key tool to improve ecological management and promote new ecotourism experiences in the city. The project not only fosters ecotourism routes in iconic sites but also enables the monitoring and protection of urban biodiversity.
BIOSOUNDSCAPE is being developed within València’s Urban Sandbox, with the collaboration of the Municipal Authority of Parks, Gardens and Urban Biodiversity, and the participation of iTEAM and the CVBLab-HTECH group of the UPV, Artikode Intelligence, and the NGO Spanish Ornithological Society.