Fourth Annual City Nature Challenge Event Recap

By: Danielle Brookfield

On April 26^th, 2025, the City of Long Beach’s Office of Climate Action and Sustainability hosted our 4^th annual City Nature Challenge at Willow Springs Park. This international initiative, led by the Natural History Museum, encourages the use of iNaturalist, an app that helps the public record species observations. We would like to thank everyone who came despite the rain; it was truly inspiring to see so many people dedicated to learning and discovering! If you were not able to join, please keep reading to learn more about the City Nature Challenge and how you can continue to contribute to science.

Below you can see the results of the worldwide effort to collect species data. Over 3 million observations were made and over 73,000 species were identified by communities across the globe!

About City Nature Challenge

This year marked the 10th anniversary for City Nature Challenge! Species identification and population tracking are very important for scientists who study different animals, plants, and ecosystems. The iNaturalist app allows everybody to contribute to the database to help scientists track biodiversity data. For example, a scientist who is studying a migrating bird can check iNaturalist observations from across the globe to gather real-time data, a feat that was practically impossible 30 years ago!

You can use iNaturalist every day to share observations and contribute to the global scientific community! Follow these steps to get started:

1. Download the app on your phone and make an account.
2. Find a plant, fungus, or animal and take a photo, video, or audio recording.
3. Upload your media and use the suggested species to help identify what you observed.

Once the species is identified and confirmed by two different people, your observation will be research grade! For more detailed instructions and help, click here.

Event Recap

The event took place at Willow Springs Park, where attendees trekked through the rainy trails to receive educational resources from our partners and participate in fun activities such as sun printing and a scavenger hunt. We also had a lovely nature walk led by Jorge Ochoa, Horticulture professor at Long Beach City College, that helped educate people of all ages about the various bug species we have at the park. 

Jorge Ochoa teaching a child how to use a bug catcher.

Our lovely partners included the following organizations:

Our partners brought their A-game and provided educational material for all ages. Visitors enjoyed making bouquets with invasive plants, interacting with worms and baby chickens, raffles, and honey tasting. The event also included music from DJ Phatrick.

95 observations were made and 56 unique species were found at Willow Springs Park during our event. Thank you to everyone who participated! Here are some of the iNaturalist findings: