We’re calling on the people of Chester and beyond to take part in an epic nature challenge 25-28 April 2025!
The City Nature Challenge is a global event where people in over 667 City Regions worldwide are working together to record as much wildlife as possible.
Can you help us put Chester on the map for wildlife?! Watch the video below to find out more.
How do I join in?
Download the iNaturalist app on your phone, or use the iNaturalist website and make an account.
Get out and about over the 4 days of the Challenge! Photograph and upload your wildlife observations to iNaturalist. Don't worry if you're not sure of the species, the app has a handy photo recognition function to give you a starting point, plus other observers will help to ID from your photo where possible.
Follow this guide for how to use the Android app and
this guide for how to use the iPhone app.
Take a look at (and even better join) the Chester Region Project to see how we're doing and find out what others have been spotting in the area.
You can continue to add sightings from the weekend up until 7 May. Why not also help out with identifying the wildlife people have seen too?
There's loads more information on the City Nature Challenge and how to use iNaturalist here.
What's happening?
Ourselves and partners are running loads of free events! Click on the links to find out more.
Friday 25 April
Wildlife recording walk on Chester Meadows
25 April, 2pm - 4pm
Join us for to help record the species found in this special habitat.
Dusk Wildlife Walk along the Greenway, Chester
25 April, 6pm - 8pm
Join us for an evening stroll, recording the Greenway's wildlife.
City Nature Challenge at Countess of Chester Country Park
25 April, 1pm - 3pm
Join in a wellbeing walk and wildilfe ID activities.
Saturday 26 April
City Nature Challenge at Westminster Park, Lache
26 April, 10am - 3pm
Join Friends of Westminster Park and Chester Zoo - drop-in anytime for information and take part in guided walks.
City Nature Challenge at Anderton Nature Park, Northwich
26 April, Drop-in 11am - 3pm
Drop-in to chat to the RECORD team to find out what the City Nature Challenge is and how to get involved.
Grozone Big City Nature Challenge Event
26 April, Drop-in 11am - 3pm
Drop-in to join in the challenge at Grozone and for fun family activities.
Wildlife Recording Walk at Anderton Nature Park
26 April, 10am
Join us for a relaxed stroll and help us to record the park's wildlife.
Wildlife Recording Walk at Ashton and Neumann's Flashes
26 April, 2pm
Book onto this walk where we'll be exploring the wildlife of this area.
Sunday 27 April
City Nature Challenge at Caldy Valley
27 April, 10am - 12pm
Drop-in to chat to Friends of the Earth Volunteers and enjoy a lovely walk around the park whilst recording wildlife.
City Nature Challenge at Whitby Park
27 April, Drop-in 11am - 3pm
With Whitby Park Community Garden and Chester Zoo. Drop-in to chat to the team to find out what the City Nature Challenge is and how to get involved.
Wildlife Recording Walk at Whitby Park
27 April, 11:30am
Join us for a relaxed stroll as we explore the Community Garden and record the park's wildlife.
City Nature Challenge at Chester Zoo Nature Reserve
27 April, 2pm - 4pm
Join Chester Zoo and RECORD as we explore and document the reserve's wildlife.
Guided bluebell walk & workshop
27 April, 2pm
Organised by Friends of Rivacre Valley and led by Dr Hilary Ash.
Dusk Wildlife Walk at Countess of Chester Country Park
27 April, 6pm
Book on to our free walk searching for and recording the park's wildlife.
Monday 28 April
Wildlife Recording day at Little Budworth Country Park
28 April, 10:30am
Help us record the wildlife of this special habitat.
City Nature Challenge in the Manley / Mouldsworth area
28 April
Wild walkabout and tree ID followed by a wildlife ID and recording event
City Nature Challenge at Pretty Bridge
28 April
Join RECORD and the Canal and Rivers Trust for activities by the Shropshire Union canal
City Nature Challenge in Dodleston
28 April, 6pm - 9pm
Drop-in to the Parish field in Dodleston for pond dipping, bug hunting, bird watching and more.
What happens to the data?
Your uploaded wildlife sightings feed into local and national databases (including our own as a Local Environmental records centre).
Records of both common and rare species help us build a picture of how our local wildlife is doing, which helps us understand how to protect it.
* Important note on data sharing * - if you are happy for your iNaturalist observations to be shared with Local Environmental Records Centres such as ourselves,
please make sure you share your sightings under an open licence (CC0). More info on this here.
Top tips for using iNaturalist
Make sure you make an account and sign in. Check you are signed in by looking for your username at the top of the menu. All you need to make an account is an email address and password. Whilst it is possible to use the app without signing in,
your observations will remain on your phone and will not count towards our total.
Photographic (or sound) evidence is important. Observations on iNaturalist can't make 'research grade' (and therefore don't normally get passed on to Records Centres) unless they have at least one photo or sound recording of the species. If possible, multiple photos are better,
especially if you can get different angles or viewpoints as this all helps with identification.
You don't necessarily need to know what it is. Although you can add your own identification to records on the app, it doesn't matter if you don't know what it is. The app has an automatic photo-recognition feature which will give you some possible suggestions of species, but if you're still not sure it's fine
to upload something like 'plant', 'bird' or even 'animal'. iNaturalist is an online community and this means that other people can take a look at what you've seen and help you identify it.
Check your license settings. In order for iNaturalist records to be useful to Local Environmental Records Centre's such as ourselves they need to be uploaded under an open licence. Open your account settings on the iNaturalist website and go to 'content and display'
then choose 'CC0' for your observation license. You can license the photos themselves separately however you wish - it is only the observation license that we need to be open. Find out how to do this here.
Make sure you are uploading your records. It is possible to save observations to your phone and upload them later (this can be very useful for saving battery and internet when out and about). However make sure you remember to upload your observations when you get home (and by 4 May at the latest).
Who is running the City Nature Challenge?
The Chester Region City Nature Challenge is being organised by RECORD and Chester Zoo, but we are working with lots of brilliant local partners.
The global challenge is organised by Natural History Museum Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences.
What if I don't want to use the app?
If you still want your observations to count towards our total but do not want to use the app yourself, send us some information in an email and the RECORD team will upload your data to the app on your behalf.
Click here for more information.
Where can I find out more?
Click the links below for more information.
Spotter's guides, worksheets and how-to guides
City Nature Challenge UK
City Nature Challenge Worldwide
Can I do this with my organisation or group?
Yes! We are already working with a number of fabulous local partner organisations to promote the
City Nature Challenge and run events and we would love for other groups to get involved. For example schools, 'Friends' groups, charities,
companies and other community groups. We have a handbook and graphics which we can share with you and can also help promote any linked events. Please get in touch with iona@record-lrc.co.uk for more information.
Chester City Nature Challenge banner graphics by Chester National Park City Group.
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