LOWER MERION – Lower Merion Sustainability Ambassadors are hosting opportunities for residents to participate during this year’s City Nature Challenge (CNC), April 26 – 29, 2024. The CNC is a yearly international friendly competition to document plants, insects, animals, and fungi in cities around the world. It is an excellent way to engage residents of any age in citizen science and document the biodiversity of our urban areas in a fun and easy way.
The Philadelphia CNC encompasses Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks counties in PA and Camden, Gloucester, and Burlington counties in NJ. Any observation made within that area will count toward the challenge. Observations are made by photographing wildlife including any plant, mammal, bird, insect, fungi, fish, or even evidence of living organisms like tracks, shells, or scat with a mobile device.
Photos are then uploaded to the iNaturalist app. Observations will be identified from April 30 – May 5, and the winning city will be announced on May 6. Join Lower Merion Sustainability Ambassadors at the following events for help signing up for the iNaturalist app, to participate in a bioblitz, and to participate in identifying
observations made in the app: – Thursday, April 25 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Sustainability Ambassadors Open House,
Lower Merion Township Administration Building- Saturday April 27 9am – 12pm, Bioblitz, Nature’s Sanctuary Laurel Hill West – Saturday May 4 8am – 1pm, NarbEarth Day, Narberth Park
A bioblitz is a citizen-science effort to record as many species as possible at a specific location during a short time period. City Nature Challenge is a friendly global competition to make the most observations, find the most species, and engage the most people.
To learn more about the City Nature Challenge, visit citynaturechallenge.org or cncphilly.org. To learn more about iNaturalist or to set up a free account, visit inaturalist.org or the Apple or Android app store.
