City Nature Challenge 2024: Garden Route's Journal

The City Nature Challenge has once again proven to be a roaring success, thanks to the dedication and hard work of nature enthusiasts like you. In an email from the organizers, they shared some exciting highlights from this year's event.

Can you believe it? For four consecutive years now, we've surpassed the one million observations mark in just four days. That's truly incredible and speaks volumes about the passion and commitment of everyone involved in making the CNC a reality in their communities.

Let's give a round of applause to the Garden Route District, which recorded 10,497 observations of 2,373 species, thanks to the efforts of 211 dedicated observers. And let's not forget the invaluable contributions of the 400 individuals who spent hours meticulously identifying species from the observations.

On the global stage, the Garden Route District ranked 57th for observations and 28th for species diversity. Within the Southern African platform, it secured the 4th spot for observations and 3rd spot for species.

Looking ahead, mark your calendars for next year's City Nature Challenge, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary from April 25th to 28th, 2025. The theme? "Bring the Globe Together for Biodiversity." Let's make it even bigger and better than ever before!

A heartfelt thank you to each and every person who contributed to the success of this year's challenge. Your passion for nature and dedication to conservation are truly inspiring. Here's to many more years of celebrating and protecting our planet's incredible biodiversity!

GRDCNC24 project page https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-garden-route
Southern Africa project page https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-southern-africa

Well done everyone for all your time and effort.
We will now await the official results from the organizers.
Carry on enjoying iNat and keep on doing identifications. Currently, the Research grade stands at 47% for this challenge.

The percentage of Observations at Research Grade for the Garden Route District is currently 41.5%.
While quantity is good, let us also look at quality and get a healthy 66% of the Observations at Research Grade.
Go to https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=city-nature-challenge-2024-garden-route to assist in identifications.

Some links to help you with identifications:

• Amphibians: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Amphibia&project_id=182114
• Arachnids: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Arachnida&project_id=182114
• Birds: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Aves&project_id=182114
• Casuals: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=casual&project_id=182114
• Fish: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Actinopterygii&project_id=182114
• Fungi: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Fungi&project_id=182114
• Insects: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Insecta&project_id=182114
• Mammals: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Mammalia&project_id=182114
o Marine mammals: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=152871
• Mollusks: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Mollusca&project_id=182114
• Plants: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Plantae&project_id=182114
o Grasses, Sedges, Cattails, and Allies: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=47162
o Dicots: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=47124
o Monocots: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=47163
o Joint-toothed Mosses: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=48372
o Ferns; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=764796
o Lycophytes: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=47623
o Green Algae: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=51429
o Conifers: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=136329
o Anthocerotopsida: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=56328
o Complex Thalloid Liverworts: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=152080
o Leafy Liverworts: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=967120
o Aquatic plants (Rhodymeniophycidae): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=1051024
• Protozoans: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Protozoa&project_id=182114
• Reptiles: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Reptilia&project_id=182114
o Snakes: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=85553
o Lizards: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=182114&taxon_id=85552
• Unknowns: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=unknown&project_id=182114

South African Red List: Plants and Animals https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?place_id=146648&d1=2024-04-26&d2=2024-04-29&project_id=44345

NEMBA Alien Species (South Africa) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?place_id=146648&d1=2024-04-26&d2=2024-04-29&project_id=26586

Remember to click the favourite button on an observation that stands out for you.
It means a lot to an observer when their observations get recognised.

Please make sure when you upload to group photos of the same sighting in one observation.
Remember, if you accidentally upload multiple observations of the same species, taken at the same place and time it will skew the data.

Happy snapping.

It is almost time for the start of this year's City Nature Challenge.

Get out there and enjoy yourself.

Lots of observations. And if you think you have taken enough, add a few more to make sure.

Any interesting stories please email them to grd.cnc@gmail.com so we can share them on Facebook.

This document aims to:
1) Provide a high-level, but detailed overview of all core iNaturalist features and functionality.
2) Answer common questions asked by new users to the platform and address common
misconceptions about iNaturalist.

https://ala.org.au/app/uploads/2024/04/A_Guide_to_iNaturalist_Apr2024-1.pdf

An Umbrella project on iNaturalist can only include up to 500 individual projects.
This year, more than 500 projects have been registered for the City Nature Challenge.

This has necessitated two umbrella projects covering two geographical regions by continent:
The one is North and South America and the second is Eurasia, Africa and Oceania.

• North and South America
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-north-and-south-america
• Eurasia, Africa and Oceania
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-eurasia-africa-oceania

The Garden Route project will fall under Eurasia, Africa and Oceania.
All the projects will be split and moved to the new projects in due course.
This does not affect the existing Garden Route project. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-garden-route

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcLYIjIm-4c