Taking place from Friday 30 April – Monday 3 May, the City Nature Challenge is a global event that’s calling on people to observe and submit pictures of wildlife using the free mobile app, iNaturalist.
Cardiff, Newport and the Gwent Levels are joining over 400 city areas on six continents to take part in the sixth annual challenge that documents urban biodiversity.
Nature is all around us; in our city, neighbourhoods, and even in our homes. As human populations become increasingly concentrated in cities, it’s more important than ever to document urban biodiversity and help ensure the future of plants and wildlife.
You can participate by:
- Spotting wildlife, including wild plants, animals and fungi, from Friday 30 April – Monday 3 May, ensuring you adhere to Welsh Government Covid guidelines
- Snapping photos or recording sounds of the wildlife
- Sharing your observations by uploading the photos, recordings and locations to the iNaturalist app by Wednesday 5 May
Cardiff Harbour Authority is one of the partners contributing to an online programme of fun, nature-based activities to make joining in with the challenge even more enjoyable. If you’re wildlife-spotting at Cardiff Bay’s Wetland Nature Reserve and want to keep the kids entertained, why not download and print our Wildlife Explorer Trail?
Additional partners at wildlife organisations, including RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, Buglife, Cardiff University and the National Museum of Wales will help identify the species submitted via iNaturalist. The large pools of data collected through the app, natural history museums and science organisations help inform conservation decisions that allow both human and natural communities to thrive.
Last year’s City Nature Challenge saw over 1,300 endangered, endemic, or data deficient species recorded. The final results of the 2021 event will be announced on Monday 10 May.
After launching the first-ever City Nature Challenge in 2016, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences are hosting their sixth – and largest – international effort. In response to the Covid pandemic, this year’s challenge will not be focused on competition, but rather collaboration, with more than 41,000 people around the world expected to participate.
iNaturalist app
Signing up is easy and free. Download iNaturalist from the Apple or Google Play app stores, or visit https://www.inaturalist.org/ from your browser.
Follow the City Nature Challenge on social media
#CNCUK
#CNCUK21
#CNC21
#CityNatureChallenge
Twitter:
@Citnatchallenge
April 22, 2021 4:51 pm.
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