Join the York City Nature Challenge
See it, snap it, share it! The York City Nature Challenge is running from 26 to 29 April 2024, and aims to raise awareness of the biodiversity in and around the city.
The City Nature Challenge is an international 4-day bioblitz taking place in York for the first time in April. The Challenge aims to raise awareness of the biodiversity in and around the city, as well as provide data for research.
About the City Nature Challenge
Started in 2016 as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the United States, the City Nature Challenge (CNC) has grown into an international event - see the 450 city-regions that participated in 2023. This challenge motivates people around the world to find and document wildlife in their own cities.
In 2023, over 1.8 million wildlife records were submitted across the globe over four days. Run by the Community Science teams at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM), the CNC is an annual four-day global bioblitz at the end of April, where cities are in a collaboration-meets-friendly-competition to see what can be accomplished when we all work toward a common goal. This competition uses the iNaturalist app on your phone or computer to record biodiversity data using photos or sounds, and share it with a world-wide community of scientists and nature enthusiasts. Learn about the iNaturalist app here.
How can I take part?
The City Nature Challenge is open to everyone. To start recording, download the iNaturalist app on your phone or visit uk.inaturalist.org to create an account and share your findings.
Why participate?
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It's fun, free, and easy to participate!
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Observations can be made during the course of your normal daily activities, during a walk around town, or even further afield in a local nature reserve. You don't even have to leave home to participate! You can make observations from your window or in your own garden.
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A great way to contribute to science
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Learn more about your local biodiversity
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Inform conservations efforts and protect nature right where you live.
Check out York's website below for more information and join our project on iNaturalist!