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The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), through the Texas Nature Trackers program, invites Texans to participate in the seventh annual City Nature Challenge April 29 through May 2.

This global community-based scientific effort, co-organized by San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, invites current and aspiring citizen scientists of all ages and backgrounds to observe and submit pictures of wild plants, animals and fungi using the free mobile app iNaturalist.

The 2022 City Nature Challenge will be a friendly competition between the 15 Texas metropolitan areas.

Whether joining a group event or exploring nature with your family or on your own, participants are encouraged to embrace the collaborative aspect of sharing observations online with a digital community and celebrate the healing power of nature safely as they document their local biodiversity.

You are also invited to join the effort to help identify those plants and animals found during the challenge by helping with identification from May 3-8, 2022.

For the past five years, TPWD, through the Texas Nature Trackers program, has promoted Texans’ participation in the City Nature Challenge. In 2021, more than 5,000 participants contributed almost 134,000 observations of some 6,800 species across 88 counties.

A record number of 14 project areas representing 78 counties across Texas host the City Nature Challenge, including: Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston-Galveston, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Lubbock, Mustang Island, San Antonio, Wichita Falls and Waco. This year we are pleased to add Tyler/East Texas, representing another 10 counties.

Even if you do not live in one of these areas, you can still participate by joining the City Nature Challenge 2022 Global Project and entering your observations on iNaturalist.

Texans are invited to explore nature in their immediate surroundings: outside their front doors, in their yard or anywhere nature is found which they can safely and responsibly explore.

Texas Nature Trackers encourages people to use the hashtag #CityNatureChallenge on social media or as a tag in iNaturalist to share how they are engaging in this year’s event.

Visit the Texas City Nature Challenge page on the TPWD website to find links to the Texas projects and learn more about the global project at the City Nature Challenge website. Those interested in participating can also contact Craig Hensley and Tania Homayoun with the Texas Nature Trackers program at tracker@tpwd.texas.gov.