For the fourth consecutive year, the City of Richmond, in collaboration with Richmond School District 38, is participating in the City Nature Challenge 2023 from Friday, April 28 to Monday, May 1. This four-day event is a global initiative that encourages friendly competition between cities to make the most observations of biodiversity.
“The City Nature Challenge is a family-friendly event that encourages residents to get outside, connect with nature and participate as citizen scientists,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “This event celebrates the incredible biodiversity found throughout Richmond with a global community.”
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.
Participating in the City Nature Challenge 2023 at www.citynaturechallenge.org/ is simple, fun and interactive. Once residents upload photos, they can receive feedback from actual scientists, experts and other naturalists who will help identify each observation.
How to participate:
- Download the free iNaturalist app on your mobile device from https://inaturalist.ca/.
- Join the Richmond community on the project page "City Nature Challenge 2023: Richmond, B.C." (www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023-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 28 and Monday, May 1, 2023.
Residents who upload 50 or more original images or sounds of wild plants and animals will be entered in a random draw to win nature-related prizes from the Richmond Nature Park Society and City of Richmond.
During and after the event, participants may view the community progress on the Richmond Project page (www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023-richmond-bc) to see what was discovered. Results of all the findings will be released on Monday, May 8. Those interested can also track other cities’ results through the national umbrella project hosted by the Canadian Wildlife Federation (https://cwf-fcf.org/en/explore/inaturalist/cnc/?src=inat).
In 2022, Richmond had 1,625 observations of 405 different species of plants and animals, including the Pacific Orange-Crowned Warbler, Western Sandpiper and Western Yellow Pond-Lily.