This Friday: 2020 City Nature Challenge!

     “This year we want to celebrate life where life is challenged.” 
                                                                                                - Jaime González
                                                               Urban Conservation Programs Manager,
                                                                       The Nature Conservancy in Huston 

The fifth annual City Natural Challenge is occurring this Friday through Monday!  The City Nature Challenge is an international event for people to find and document plants and wildlife species in cities all around the world. It’s a bioblitz-style competition to see which cities make the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people. In 2019, over 35,000 people from 159 cities participated in this event. During the week, over 936,000 observations were made and more than 31,000 species were found. Cape Town, South Africa made the most observations and won the competition in 2019.   

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s City Nature Challenge is no longer a competition but an event to discover urban biodiversity in our cities and back yard. The organizers are calling it a chance to “embrace the collaborative aspect of the CNC this year and the healing power of nature to allow people to document their local biodiversity in whatever way they can.”

How to Participate 

• Visit Inaturalist City Nature Challenge page or download Inaturalist mobile app. 
• Document and capture your findings through Friday, April 24th to Monday, April 27th. 
• From April 28th to May 3, professional researchers will identify what was found.  
• The results will be announced on May 4th. 

* Remember to stay hydrated and bring sunblock while exploring nature. Check out this video by a Wild Davis student to see how our community is preparing for this event!

Knowing what species are in our city and backyard can not only help us understand our surrounding environment but also help us to protect them and maintain biodiversity in our local nature. 

Observations of wild plants, animals, fungi, seaweed, bacteria, lichen, living or dead organisms, or evidence of those organisms, like shells, tracks, scat, feathers, etc., are all counted. Take some good photos of your findings and participate in this annual international event! 

City Nature Challenge will start on April 24 at 12:00 am (00:00) your local time and end on April 27 at 11:59 pm (23:59) your local time.