The City Nature Challenge is an international bioblitz competition to make the most observations, identify the most species, and engage the most people in learning about urban nature where they live. Bioblitzes are great ways to engage the public to connect to their environment while generating useful data for science and conservation.
Volunteers will be using the i-Naturalist app. to photograph and tally native and invasive animal and plant species at Stewart Pond. In 2019, almost 1,000,000 observations of more than 31,000 species were made during the CNC in 159 cities around the world. In 2020, over 250 cities are participating!
This year, WREN will be hosting a bioblitz event for local families, teaching about the difference between a native and invasive species, how to prevent the spread of invasive species, how to use the iNaturalist citizen science tool, and record plant and animal species in one of our popular West Eugene Wetland sites.We will be using the iNaturalist tool to photograph and record species biodiversity at Stewart Pond. You can download the free iNaturalist App for any Smartphone device. Please have the app downloaded to your device prior to the event, or, you can bring a digital camera to photograph biodiversity and add your observations via the web at a later time. We will be giving a short tutorial to those who are unfamiliar with using iNaturalist the day of the event, but in case you would like to practice ahead of time, here are some short videos: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials#add_web.
RSVP with the number of adults and children in your party to info@wewetlands.org to receive a reusable goody bag for your family* complete with invasive species identification cards/tools, snacks from our local sponsors, write in the rain paper, pencils, and more. (*limit one per family*).
Sponsored by Coconut Bliss, and Brew Dr. Kombucha.
