Be part of the global City Nature Challenge
Join in a global biodiversity survey by adding to the PFK Nature Challenge and the Auckland City Nature Challenge.
What is the City Nature Challenge?
The annual, global City Nature Challenge runs from 30th April to 3rd May and aims to record as many species as possible in a short, busy period. Known as a bioblitz (see definition below), these surveys add to our understanding of the natural world and the species around us.
This video explains more about the City Nature Challenge
PFK are contributing to the Auckland Tamaki Makaurau City Nature Challenge, and you can too!
How does it work?
We want you to record any living species you find between 30th April and 3rd May using iNaturalist (see below).
You can record absolutely anything as long as it's alive. Plants, birds, insects, spiders, fish, fungi, lichen, etc.. Aim to record wild things (not a pet or a plant in a pot)
Look in your backyard, your local reserve, while walking along a road, your place of work or study, anywhere you find living things. The best places will be more natural places, or places with vegetation, such as your backyard, an area of bush, or a reserve - but always stay on tracks in reserves, and stay away from kauri trees.
Look around you, look under things, look behind things. Particular insects, spiders and other invertebrates could be almost anywhere. Lots of plants can also be found growing all over the place.
What is iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is a website and app that almost anyone can use to record observations of living things.
With the app, you can:
snap a photo of something,
upload it,
ask the very clever auto-recognition feature to suggest what it is,
then select what you think.
The observation is added and people around the world can see your photo and confirm or suggest the identification. It’s very cool.
It is a great way to learn about the living things around us and learn how to recognize some of them. You have a record of everything you’ve observed and it works anywhere in the world, so if you travel to a new place you might add a new species for your own records. How many species can you find?
When?
The Nature Challenge runs from 30th April to 3rd May - please try to add as many observations as you can during these few days.
We encourage you to continue using iNaturalist after this period too. PFK has an ongoing iNaturalist project that will start 4th of may, search up “Pest Free Kaipatiki - Ecological Monitoring” on iNaturalist to follow and take part. You can join and follow both of these projects to see what other people are recording.
How to get involved and contribute?
Download the iNaturalist app and create an account (you can also login on your desktop computer).
Between 30 April and 3 May keep adding observations.
That’s it.
If you want to do more, you can find relevant projects in iNaturalist and follow them, such as:
Pest Free Kaipatiki - Ecological Monitoring project - Launching 4th May
What is a bioblitz?
A bioblitz is an attempt to record as many living species as possible in a short and intense period, usually in a designated area. It is a type of biological surveying and is contributors include scientists, naturalists and volunteers.
What now?
Join the iNaturalist project online, get out there, and start observing!
Try to find as many different species as you can, and don't be afraid to record anything you're unsure about.
There are some super easy ways to find some wildlife: go for a walk through your local reserve, take a photo of some plants in a carpark, or even turn over some rocks in your garden and find some insects!