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

City Nature Challenge is an international four-day campaign where cities across the globe collaborate to record the biodiversity of their urban and surrounding areas. In 2025, (Columbia's first year participating) a total of 669 cities participated with nearly 103,000 people making over 3.3 million observations of nature during the challenge. We're excited to keep the observations rolling for Columbia's second ever City Nature Challenge in 2026, 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 not put there by a person, or taken care of by a person, counts as wild - 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 24th-27th, 2026) will count towards the challenge!