Community participates in City Nature Challenge by recording the biodiversity of the Punta Banda Peninsula
Liliana Ortiz with Challenge Participants
The City Nature Challenge is a massive global community science event where people worldwide use their phones to document local biodiversity. In Punta Banda, a community bioblitz was held on April 25 to participate in this initiative, bringing residents together to track wild flora and fauna. The Alliance (with members representing Mujeres en Parvada, the Antonio Periskí Private Reserve, and Pro Esteros) hosted this event on April 25. By snapping a photos of local species, local citizen scientists directly contributed to the world's largest habitat survey and helped researchers map and protect local ecosystems.
Impressive numbers for the challenge worldwide!
During the challenge, participants ventured out to photograph and record the wild plants, animals, and fungi living in the hills above Cantu. The Punta Banda event was designed as a fun, accessible way for people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with their local ecosystem. The data collected serves a highly practical purpose: these observations are uploaded to iNaturalist (a phone app) where scientists, land managers, and conservationists can utilize the images and audio to monitor biodiversity.
The observations gathered during the City Nature Challenge events act as massive, openly available data sets that drive global conservation and research. The data is used for . . .
Tracking Biodiversity & Rarity: Researchers and conservation agencies use the data to monitor native, endangered, and threatened species, as well as the spread of non-native and invasive species across human-dominated urban landscapes.
Global Databases: Observations that reach a community consensus on iNaturalist are automatically fed into broader global repositories, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Informing Policy: Local governments and environmental organizations utilize the data to build biodiversity inventories, make informec management decisions, update conservation policies, and shape local educational programs.
Public Engagement: The data helps connect locals with the natural world right in their own neighborhoods, fostering a community that is more deeply invested in restoring and protecting local ecosystems.
If you missed this event, check our calendar in 2027 for next year’s City Nature Challenge. We hope to see you there!
