City Nature Challenge

Get outside with us April 29 – May 2 during the City Nature Challenge. This international community science event challenges us to explore the biodiversity around us. Everyone is welcome, all you need to do is download the free iNaturalist app from either the App or Play store on your phone or tablet, create an account, go outside and start exploring! iNaturalist can be used year round to identify all sorts of plant and animal species anywhere in the world! In addition, by making observations in the app, you will be contributing to a global wildlife database that scientists can use to inform their research.

The City Nature Challenge was started in 2016 by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and has grown into a global event. Last year, over 400 cities from 44 countries around the world participated in the challenge with over 52,000 observers. Over 45,000 different species were documented during the 4-day event and 2021 also saw the first time that more than 1,000,000 observations were made! The Greater Erie region is joining the challenge this year and we need your help to put Erie on City Nature Challenge’s map.

Any iNaturalist observations made in Pennsylvania north of 1-90 during this 4-day period will be included. Record observations from your backyard, explore the Erie Bayfront, visit a town park, or come to Asbury Woods for a visit! Asbury Woods and our partners will make participation even easier for you by hosting iNaturalist trainings and identification hikes.

Want to participate on your own? Download the free iNaturalist app from either the App or Play Store on your phone or tablet, create an account, and start searching the challenge area, taking geo-tagged pictures as you go. If you need any help iNaturalists website has some great tutorials. https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials