City Nature Challenge is a Global bioblitz-style competition using the iNaturalist app - cities around the world engage in a friendly contest to see who can make the most observations of nature by taking photos, find the most species, and engage the most people.
In 2024 they organised a multi-agency collaborative effort to put Ōtautahi on the international biodiversity map. Over 20,000 observations were logged, a result that placed us 26 out of 690 cities, beating Los Angeles, Melbourne, and Wellington – but only just! But the challenge is more than the numbers, it's about getting people out in our green spaces, encouraging them to stop and take a closer look at nature all around them, and to excite their curiosity.
Find out who was involved, what they did in the lead-up to, and during, the four days of the challenge to get people involved, and the results!
People are surprised, when they start looking, by just how much nature there is in the urban environment, thinking they must go out into the countryside, the mountains, or bush to find anything interesting.
But all our cities are at the nexus of our richest and most threatened lowland and coastal habitats. Through the iNaturalist NZ—Mātaki Taiao community they have discovered new species, found plants and insects in unexpected places, and spotted invasive pests and diseases. It's easy and fun and you don't need to know what they are photographing because once the photos are uploaded, scientists scan through the pictures and verify the AI identifications or propose alternatives. This can lead to some important discoveries! We can all be scientists!
Ōtautahi Christchurch has participated in this global challenge for the last six years. This year - 2025 - will be the tenth year of the global competition.
https://inaturalist.nz/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-otautahi-christchurch
