Join the 2023 City Nature Challenge

Identify Plants and Critters with iNaturalist

You can be part of a challenge to identify all of the plants and critters in the greater Baltimore/Washington area. Join in the City Nature Challenge by making observations of as many species as possible between April 28-May 1, 2023.

The City Nature Challenge will help us find out what species are living in cities around the world. Volunteers from all over are being asked to explore nature around them and document the species they find using the iNaturalist app. Biodiversity is essential to a healthy environment and scientists need help gathering data. That’s what this Citizen Science project will do between April 28-May

All you need to do is go outside and take pictures using the app iNaturalist. After May 1 all of the species captured in the photos will be identified and categorized to discover how many unique species are living in our area. You can do the City Nature Challenge on your own, or join a planned event with a group that will explore a specific area. All you need is a phone loaded with the iNaturalist app and the willingness to hunt and photograph different species.

Remember, the CNC is happening between April 28th and May 1st, 2023. During that 4-day window, go out and make as many observations as you can! It doesn’t matter where you are in the DMV. Your observation locations are automatically recorded in iNaturalist. Scientists will use those locations to count observations in each city.

How to participate:

• Make sure you have the iNaturalist app on your phone or tablet

• Join an event, or go out into nature

• Make observations between 12am April 28th and 12pm May 1 using the iNaturalist app

You can find more information at: The Baltimore area challenge is sponsored by the National Aquarium aqua.org/support/conservation/citynature-challenge-baltimore

The Washington DC area information is found here: citynaturechallengedc.org Observation events will be listed on ChesapeakeFamily.com/ NatureChallenge