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Take part in the 2025 City Nature Challenge

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Help Knox compete with cities from around the world to capture and upload photographs of local wild plants and animals in the 2025 City Nature Challenge from Friday 25th April to Monday 28th April. Let’s show the world how incredible the biodiversity of Melbourne is.

What is the City Nature Challenge? 
The City Nature Challenge is an annual global BioBlitz that celebrates local wildlife and flora through citizen science. The event is coordinated by the California Academy of Sciences and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum and was first run in 2016. 

The aim of the challenge is for community to snap a photo or record the sound of any wild plant or animal and upload it to the iNaturalist app. At the end of the Challenge, the city with the most observations wins.

What are the benefits of participating?
By participating in the Challenge, you help us document the occurrence of our local flora and fauna. During the last 4-day BioBlitz, 15 species were recorded in Knox on iNaturalist for the first time, and five of those species were recorded at the Moth Lighting event.

iNaturalist is also a powerful tool for individuals to develop more knowledge and a deeper connection the biodiversity around them. 

Local user Kylie shared 
“Using iNaturalist has helped me discover new species around me. My favourite discovery to date was the Imperial Jezebel Butterfly. They have an incredible relationship with indigenous mistletoe species! Embedded in mistletoe, Imperial Jezebels form their chrysalis on a silky weblike structure. After uploading a photo of the alien-like structure on iNaturalist and learning it was a butterfly, I returned every day until the butterflies emerged.”

How to participate
1.    Download the free iNaturalist app from Apple store or Google Play or access it using the website.
2.    Create a free iNaturalist account.
3.    Look out for wild plants and animals to photograph in your local bushland reserves and parks during the observation period
4.    Upload your photographs or sound recordings to the app. You can do this anytime of the year and don’t have to wait for the challenge to commence.  

Watch the YouTube video: How to make an observation on your phone.

There are plenty of events running over the Challenge weekend that you can participate in to help increase your chances of making some unique and interesting discoveries. Learn more about the events.

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