We’re skipping April showers in the Fraser Valley this weekend, and if you’re looking for something to get you outdoors, this is a pretty good one.
Every year in late April, millions of people around the world spend four days photographing every wild living thing they can find — birds, insects, fungi, wildflowers, animal tracks, you name it. They then upload it all to a global database that scientists actually use. It sounds niche, but the organizing group says it’s the “the largest annual biodiversity census in the world.”
The City Nature Challenge runs April 24 to 27, inviting people to document wild plants, animals, fungi, and other living things in their neighbourhoods using the free iNaturalist app. Now in its 11th year, the event has grown from a friendly competition between San Francisco and Los Angeles into a global effort spanning 669 cities and 62 countries. Abbotsford is the only Fraser Valley city participating this year.
The premise is simple: head outside, photograph whatever wild things you find, and upload them. That means anything not planted or cared for by people — a bird in your backyard, a mushroom on a trail, animal tracks in the mud, a bee on a flower. Observations are then identified by an online community of naturalists between April 28 and May 10, with results announced May 13.
We’re lucky to be living in an impressively biodiverse part of the world. The Fraser Valley sits at the intersection of coastal rainforest, agricultural lowlands, river valleys, and mountain terrain, which means the range of species you might come across on a single outing is pretty broad. Migratory birds are moving through right now, spring wildflowers are emerging, and insects and amphibians are becoming more active as temperatures climb.
Over the past decade, the challenge has generated more than 12.9 million urban biodiversity observations covering over 113,000 species. That data helps scientists, conservationists, and policymakers track changes in biodiversity and make decisions about habitat protection.
Because the event happens annually, researchers now have access to multi-year datasets that are becoming increasingly valuable as ecosystems shift.
"Every year, participants document rare and endangered species, new invasive species, and make other important contributions to our understanding of biodiversity," said Rebecca Johnson, director of community science at the California Academy of Sciences and one of the challenge's co-founders.
Participation is free and open to everyone, from first-timers to seasoned naturalists. If photography isn't your thing, you can still contribute by helping identify species that others have documented after the observation period closes.
