Friday, April 26 marks the beginning of the fourth annual City Nature Challenge, which started in 2016 as a contest between Los Angeles and San Francisco to see which city could find the most species of wild organisms inside their municipal boundaries. Now it is an international event that you can participate in.
Why the City Nature Challenge Matters
Professional scientists cannot be everywhere at once, so “citizen scientists” are needed to help understand if animal and plant populations are healthy or declining. Unless an organism has an economic impact, positive or negative, chances are we know very little about it. We do not even know all the geographic areas certain species are found in. Your observations are critical and valuable!
How to Get Started
- Visit CityNatureChallenge.org to see if your city is participating. No? Contact your city leaders to get your town to compete in 2020. Yes, your city is participating? Go to step 2.
- Go to iNaturalist.org. Download the free app from AppStore or Google Play. No smart phone? Simply register online.
- Sign in.
- Find your city’s Nature challenge project by clicking the “Projects” tab and searching there. Make sure it is for year 2019.
- Begin making “observations” by taking pictures with your phone or camera and posting them to the project, after midnight on April 26 (Friday) and before midnight April 29 (Monday).
- Don’t know what the object is? Upload it as “animal,” “plant,” “fungi,” or even “unknown.” Experts will begin identifying observations more specifically starting on May 1. No pets, livestock, cultivated plants, or people, please.
- Watch for the results of the City Nature Challenge. “Winners” include the city with the most participants, most observations, and most species. So, recruit friends!
Beyond the City Nature Challenge
You might want to make a habit of participating in other citizen science projects through iNaturalist and other portals like Project Noah. You will make friends, learn much, and contribute positively to our understanding of planet Earth in the process.