The 2021 “City Nature Challenge” has started! This annual worldwide event is aimed at documenting the biodiversity that lives in our cities, because they are much more than “concrete deserts”…
The Challenge consists in two parts:
- April 30 – May 3: take as many plant or animal pictures as you can in your city
- May 4 – May 9: get your observation identified online, or identify plants and animals seen by others to test your knowledge!
In the UK, 10 cities/areas are taking part: Birmingham & Black Country, Coventry, Gloucestershire, Greater Edinburgh, Greater Glasgow, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Liverpool City Region, London and Nottingham.
If you don’t live in one of those areas, you are welcome to record your finds too (although they will not count towards one of the city challenges, they are still very useful).
It’s very easy to take part:
- Visit iNaturalist.org to send your data via a computer, or download the “iNaturalist” app on the AppStore or Google Play
- Create an account in a few clicks (or sign in if you already have one)
- Start sharing your observations…et voilà!
You can also join specific projects (it’s free, just visit the “Projects” page) such as the official City Nature Challenge International Weekend 2021: UK project to discover what others have seen!
Your data will be used by scientists in the UK and abroad for conservation projects, to better understand climate change and to improve the ecology of our cities.
And if you’re also posting your finds on Twitter, don’t forget to tag @MoreThanWeeds 🙂
What a great idea. First I have heard of this.
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