Will you participate in the City Nature Challenge?
The City Nature Challenge is a global citizen science bio-blitz held annually in an effort to raise awareness about biodiversity. It provides an opportunity for you to make a difference, connect with nature, and show the world your community pride — it’s as easy as taking a photo.
At its core, the City Nature Challenge (CNC) is about tracking biodiversity around the world. The CNC is a friendly, international competition that encourages people to find and document all the plants and wildlife they can find in their city. Utilizing the iNaturalist platform, participants can compete against city’s across the planet to make the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people in this bio-blitz.
In 2020, more than 244 cities around the world took part; more than 41,000 people participated; over 815,000 observations were made; 32,000+ species were documented, including 1,300+ species at risk.
This year is the first City Nature Challenge taking place in Lethbridge! There are two parts to the Challenge:
April 30 – May 3 - Taking pictures of wild plants and animals
May 4 — 9 - Identifying the images
We are asking our community to help us document the incredible biodiversity and natural beauty of Lethbridge from April 30 thru May 3, 2021.
Participating is as easy as 1-2-3 using iNaturalist!
Find wildlife
Take a picture
Share your sighting using iNaturalist
Help us get to 5,000 observations in 2021,
share this information with your family & friends!
Why Participate in the City Nature Challenge?
Any way you look at it, biodiversity wins. Knowing what species are found in each city helps conservationists study and protect them, and the CNC is a way for scientists, land managers and the community to come together for the common good of documenting nature in the area.
Connect with nature and your community. This is a chance to explore some of the areas in your community and discover biodiversity right outside your door – from the local park to sidewalk edges and your own backyard.
Learn from experts. CNC attracts many experts in a focused attempt to identify everything found during the event. The more species that get identified the greater the tally grows. If you find something and you don’t know what it is, chances are someone will help identify it for you.
DID YOU KNOW?
You can submit your sightings year-round using iNaturalist. All observations uploaded from April 30 to May 3 to iNaturalist will automatically be added to the City Nature Challenge tally!
Visit iNaturalist.org
Download the app from the AppStore or Google Play
Sign In
Start sharing your observations
Get feedback from actual scientists, experts, and other naturalists