Thank you for your interest in Columbia's City Nature Challenge!

City Nature Challenge is an international four-day competition where cities across the globe compete to record the biodiversity of their urban and surrounding areas. In 2024, a total of 690 cities participated with over 83,500 people making over 2.4 million observations of nature over the four days of the challenge. 2025 will be Columbia's first time participating in the challenge, and we'd love you to be a part of it!

Taking Part is Easy!

1. Find wildlife! Whether in your backyard, on your street, or in a park, find wildlife around you! Anything wild counts; birds, insects, plants, fungi - you name it! You can search for wildlife yourself or attend one of the free nature programs organized by our partners. 

2. Take a record! Use your smartphone or digital camera to take a photo or audio recording of what you find!

3. Share what you found! Upload your observation to iNaturalist.org or with the iNaturalist mobile app and it will be automatically added to the contest project. Any observations recorded in Richland or Lexington counties during the event period (April 25th-28th, 2025) will count towards the challenge!