Cities around the world collaborate to share observations of nature in the annual City Nature Challenge.
Spot an animal on your way to work or school? See an insect on a plant near your home? Take a few photos and upload them to iNaturalist to contribute to observations of biodiversity all around you during the York City Nature Challenge from 25-28th April 2025! Feel free to make your own observations of animals, plants and fungi where you live, work or play during these days, as well as join any one of the many events happening around York by different community groups. See the poster below and the York City Nature Challenge Events page for more details.
2024 was the first year York took part in the challenge and we did pretty well! There were three metrics to judge participation in the City Nature Challenge; the number of observations, number of observers, and number of species found. Between the 24 cities competing in the UK, York’s results were as follows:
York came a very close 2nd place for the number of observations, making a total of 12,833 biodiversity observations!
York came in 3rd place for “number of observers with 221 people making observations.
York received GOLD for the total number of species observed with 1487 different species, demonstrating the amazing diversity of wildlife here in York!
Finally, York was placed 47th out of 690 cities globally, punching above its weight!
