City Nature Challenge 2024

The annual City Nature Challenge with cities around the world collaborating to document urban biodiversity will take place on April 26 – April 29, 2024. Three of Alberta's major urban areas are involved this year and other municipalities are encouraged to take part! Take photos of any wild flora and fauna seen April 26 – April 29 and upload your observations to the iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.ca before May 5 (midnight). With nearly 25 Canadian cities taking part, we will see which area can make the most observations, document the most species, and engage the most people. It is expected that more than 500 cities globally will participate in 2024! This is a free event and you can participate anywhere within your project boundaries. Look for plants, mammals, birds, insects, fungi, lichens, fish, or even microorganisms in your yard, local parks, natural areas, or the lesser-explored places of our cities!

2024 Dates:

April 26 – April 29, 2024 - Observation Period: Taking pictures of wild plants and animals.

April 30 – May 5, 2024 - Upload and Identification: Identifying what was found.

Results will be announced on Monday May 6, 2024.

Alberta Cities Participating:

Calgary Metropolitan Region:

Locations: Airdrie, Chestermere, City of Calgary, Cochrane, Alberta, Foothills County, Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, High River, Okotoks, Rocky View County

Organizer: Matt Wallace

Join the iNaturalist project: city-nature-challenge-2024-calgary-metropolitan-region

Edmonton Metropolitan Region:

Organizer: Greg Pohl

Locations: Edmonton plus the adjacent communities of St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Enoch, Ft. Saskatchewan, Sherwood Park and vicinity, Beaumont, Nisku, Leduc, and Devon

Join the iNaturalist project: city-nature-challenge-2024-metro-edmonton-area

Lethbridge:

Locations: Lethbridge, AB

Organizer: Curtis Goodman

Join the iNaturalist project: city-nature-challenge-2024-lethbridge

Other Alberta Towns/ Cities are welcome to apply. Please contact Matt Wallace at CityNatureYYC@gmail.com to find out more information.