This year is the first time Cape Town has taken part in the Global City Nature Challenge, competing against thousands of people around the world as well as over 100 cities, and our beautiful city is currently in the lead.
Locals are being encouraged to join the cause and share their favourite parts of the Mother City’s nature by downloading the free inaturalist app and taking as many pictures as you can of our city’s gorgeous flora and fauna.
Currently, three teams are in the lead and competing closely on the 2019 leaderboard, with Cape Town in first place, followed by Reto Cludad Naturaleza La Paz, and Reto Naturalista Urbano Tena in third place.
Cape Town has achieved a total of 44 624 observations recorded, 3 532 individual species captured and 1 791 Capetonian participants.
As the Mother City is located in one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, locals still have time and the opportunity to secure the City’s lead, with winners of the competition being announced on May 6 2019.
While you take part in the City Nature Challenge you can also get to know the amazing plants and creatures around you better, as you give the identification of the species.
The inaturalist app also allows participants to make use of crowdsourced identification and better record your experiences in the outdoors.
#CapeTown is the current leader in the #CityNatureChallenge – but there are still 24 hours for our competitors to catch up. We need your help! ?
Just download the FREE @iNaturalist app and upload a few photos of the living things around you today – it’s as easy as that! pic.twitter.com/Ohxna8qRT7
— Two Oceans Aquarium (@2OceansAquarium) April 29, 2019
A number of local organizations like Cape RADD and Two Oceans Aquarium have also joined in on the fun.
The City has put together a list of places to venture where you are most likely to find an interesting variety of Western Cape plant and animal species here.
You can keep track of the City Nature Challenge rankings here.
Picture: Twitter/The City of Cape Town/Inaturalist/City Nature Challenge