Eco Communities are supporting RECORD in this first for Chester. They are calling on the people of Chester and beyond to take part in an epic nature challenge 28 April – 1 May 2023! The City Nature Challenge is a global event where people in over 400 City Regions worldwide work together to record as much wildlife as possible.
Over the four-day challenge, we would love you to join us in exploring your local green spaces and documenting your wildlife observations, using the free iNaturalist app. Every observation counts; not just towards our Chester Region total, but towards understanding and conserving the animals, plants and habitats around us.
The City Nature Challenge is open to everyone – you don’t need to be a wildlife expert to take part. Just download the free iNaturalist app, take pictures of the wildlife you see, upload – and share! The app is easy to use, with a handy AI feature to help you identify what species you’ve photographed and a community of scientists and wildlife enthusiasts who will help verify your sighting.
If you’re recording observations anywhere within Cheshire West and Chester you’ll be helping to contribute to our regional total. See live updates of how we’re doing by joining our iNaturalist project, plus see how we measure up to cities in the UK and across the world.
You can find out more about the Chester Region City Nature Challenge including details of events that we are running here.
The Chester Region City Nature Challenge is being organised by RECORD (The Local Environmental Records Centre for Cheshire, Halton, Warrington and Wirral) and Chester National Park City Group (a youth led group campaigning to bring Chester communities closer with nature). The global challenge is organised by Natural History Museum Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences and you can find out more about the global event here.
As well as encouraging everyone to take part individually, we are looking for enthusiastic local groups and organisations to get involved in helping to promote the Chester Region City Nature Challenge! If you would like to find out more information about how you can help and what support and resources we can offer please email iona@record-lrc.co.uk.
Learn how to use the iNaturalist app via one of two events.
14 April – online webinar ‘Using iNaturalist for the City Nature Challenge’. Register here
15 April – in person training at Chester Zoo Nature Reserve. Register here
You can download or scroll through the guides below.
Sustainable Cheshire 