Collaborate
Here’s a great opportunity for you to get citizens connected to nature while taking part in an international event designed to track biodiversity. The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an annual event run by the Community Science teams at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Since launching in 2016, the CNC has grown into an international event that inspires people around to world to find and document wildlife (flora and fauna) or evidence of life in their cities. Last year 63,394 participants took part making 1,870,763 observations and discovering over 57,227 species. It’s a friendly challenge to see which city can gather the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people. Last year participants tracked nearly 1.9 million observations!
The CNC is a fun, simple, and family-friendly event that’s easy to execute and easily takes action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using the free downloadable app found at iNaturalist.ca, people can search for and document their local biodiversity simply by taking pictures (and sound recordings) and uploading them through the app or online. It’s a wonderful way to get local area residents involved in a “citizen science” event that contributes to an international database of biodiversity.
The CNC YXE 2024 event takes place April 26 – April 29, 2024, and we would welcome official involvement from you individually and collectively. Anyone can participate in the CNC, and inspiring people to explore local green spaces and natural habitats has added benefits, including developing a record of local wildlife or finding invasive species.
Public Engagement with Biological Recording (PEBR) events include several formats, such as BioBlitzes, mini-BioBlitzes, species surveys, guided nature walks, ID parties, and various derivations of these, all of which share the common aims of collecting biodiversity data (environmental outcomes) while connecting the public with nature (social outcomes).
So, what are you waiting for? Join us in the CNC YXE 2023 and take part outside in nature with the iNaturalist app. It's a chance to explore the natural beauty of Saskatoon and contribute to a global effort to understand and protect our planet's biodiversity.
By collaborating with Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc, your involvement would help increase citizen participation as we compete against other Canadian cities. It will also showcase your commitment to biodiversity and conservation. Depending on your desired level of involvement you could help promote the event through your communication channels, encourage staff, students, classrooms, businesses, volunteers, green groups, University and city officials to get involved, challenge others in the area and host PEBR activities. We would love to add your logo to the Saskatoon and area challenge logo on iNaturalist, if you would like to collaborate in any fashion.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss a collaboration with you to participate in the CNC 2024 event. Please contact me at your convenience. Thanks for considering this request to become involved. To learn more on what the CNC is all about, visit citynaturechallenge.ca https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/ or friendsareas.ca
Julia Adamson care of the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
210 Appleby Court, Saskatoon, SK S7M 4B2 306.380.5368 friendsafforestation@gmail.com
