Residents are invited to participate with the City of Richmond and Richmond School District No. 38 in the 2024 City Nature Challenge from Friday, April 26 to Monday, April 29. This fun, interactive event is a global initiative that encourages friendly competition between cities to record the most observations of nature’s plants and animals.
How to participate:
- Download the free iNaturalist app on your mobile device from inaturalist.ca.
- Join the Richmond community on the project page "City Nature Challenge 2024: Richmond, BC".
- Turn on location data and use the app while recording photos and sounds of wild plants and animals in Richmond between Friday, April 26 and Monday, April 29, 2024.
Once residents upload photos, they can receive feedback from actual scientists, experts and other naturalists who will help identify each observation.
All residents who participate will have three chances to win a City of Richmond street banner:
- Four banners will go to randomly drawn participants
- Three banners will go to three participants with the most observations
- Three banners will go to three participants with the most species observed
During and after the event, participants may view the community’s progress on the Richmond Project page to see what was discovered. Results of all findings will be released on Monday, May 6. Those interested can also track other Canadian cities’ results through a national umbrella project hosted by the Canadian Wildlife Federation.
In 2023, participants observed over 300 different species of plants and animals in Richmond, including the Caspian Tern, Cooper’s Hawk and Yellow Pond-Lily.
Richmond is located in the Fraser River Estuary, which is host to some of the most productive ecosystems in the world. This unique environment offers residents many opportunities to photograph local and migratory birds and indigenous animals and plants. Each nature observation and upload helps citizen and expert scientists collect valuable information about Richmond's biodiversity and gain a better understanding of the local ecosystem.
For more information on the City Nature Challenge, visit citynaturechallenge.org.