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In 2020 the city of Tartu started a Curated Biodiversity project to make the parks in the city more biodiverse by keeping certain areas unmown for longer periods of time. The purpose of the study was to assess the number of species found in mown and curated (unmown) areas and to analyse whether the habitat needs of the plants found varied in different areas. 10 research areas of 10x10 square metres were chosen: half of them curated and half mown. Plant identification was done with Google Lens and a densiometer was used to measure the coverage of plant species. With the results of this study, a preliminary assessment to the effectiveness of the project can be made, although for more concrete assessments more studies have to be made over a much longer period of time. Results show that areas with the curated regime do have a slightly higher number of species. The species growing in curated areas typically grow under low mowing frequency, but other habitat needs, such as amount of light and moisture, do not differ much from species growing in mown areas. The Curated Biodiversity experiment has made a visual difference in Tartu’s vegetation, but so far the impact on plant species is modest. However, the curated areas were dominated by flowers whereas the mown areas had almost no flowers, which are important for pollinators. As the project continues, the study should be repeated after a number of years to determine any further changes in biodiversity. Keywords: ● Land cover ● Urban parks ● Biodiversity