You Can Help San Diego Win the Global Nature Challenge

If you love nature and enjoy the outdoors, there is a fun activity for your entire family this weekend. Everyone is invited to take part in an outdoor challenge to find and document local wildlife as part of a global competition among more than 60 cities.

You can help San Diego win the City Nature Challenge and further our community’s bragging rights as one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots.

Known as a BioBlitz, this weekend’s event is hosted by Natural History Museum (the Nat) in Balboa Park, and we are proud to be a sponsor. Museum scientists and staff will teach participants how to make wildlife observations using iNaturalist, a mobile app that helps identify plant and animal species.

Camera, Action, BioBlitz!

The BioBlitz begins this Friday at 2 p.m. in Balboa Park and kicks off a 4-day period (April 27-30) during which San Diego will compete with cities worldwide to see which can record the most flora and fauna observations. The last BioBlitz was held 10 years ago, so this year’s challenge will help local scientists and biologists understand how nature has changed over time.

Heading into this weekend’s competition, the San Diego region is well positioned for victory. In fact, San Diego is recognized as one of 35 biodiverse regions in the world with more than 200 sensitive species.

Ready to Get Outdoors?

Location: Outside the Nat in Balboa Park, 1788 El Prado, San Diego
Time/Date: Begins 2 p.m. on Friday, April 27, and ends 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 28
Species tracking: All species will be documented using the iNaturalist app, which you can download on your Android or iPhone. Simply take photos of wild plants and animals and upload them to the app.