Join MDC and St. Louis City Nature Challenge 2025 partners for global community science effort April 25 - 28

St. LOUIS, Mo.— You can be part of a worldwide community science effort. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is joining multiple conservation partners in the St. Louis area for the 2025 City Nature Challenge that kicks off Friday, April 25. St. Louis is one of more than 700 cities around the globe to take part in the effort.

The 2025 City Nature Challenge (CNC) runs Friday through Monday, April 25 – 28.  It’s a four-day bioblitz-style competition among 700+ cities around the world to gather observations of nature. The CNC offers a platform for people of any experience level to engage in community science by finding and documenting local plants and wildlife. Cities compete to collect the most observations of nature, document the most species, and engage the most people throughout the weekend.  

First, participants should download the free iNaturalist mobile app at https://www.inaturalist.org/.  

Getting involved from there is literally as easy as 1-2-3.  To participate, simply go outside to find interesting nature subjects around you (such as wild plants, flowers, animals, birds, insects, fungi, etc.).  Next, use your smartphone to take pictures of what you see, or even record sound.   Then upload and share your findings to the iNaturalist online platform.  You’ll make great nature connections and help create a snapshot of the biodiversity found in the Greater St. Louis area. 

You can participate in the City Nature Challenge anywhere, anytime during the four-day challenge period—in backyards, local parks or other green spaces throughout the region. 

As part of the challenge MDC and partners are offering a Guided Bioblitz Saturday, April 26 from 9 – 11 a.m. starting at the Forest Park, Pavilion #11 near Kennedy Woods.  Participants should bring good walking shoes and a smartphone with the iNaturalist app.

To register for the Guided Bioblitz, or for other information about the CNC in the St. Louis area, go to http://short.mdc.mo.gov/496.

Conservation areas also offer an especially rich diversity of nature subjects and immersive outdoor experiences. To find MDC destinations perfect for taking the challenge, go to http://short.mdc.mo.gov/Z9o.

Observations must be entered by May 4 and will be counted and posted on a global leaderboard.  Final CNC results will be announced Monday, May 5.

No matter where you go it’s a good idea to observe general rules of ethical wildlife viewing; don’t pull plants, overturn rocks, or disturb wildlife, and use caution when getting photos of wild animals.

Greater St. Louis Area CNC partners include MDC, Missouri Botanical Garden, Forest Park Forever, The Saint Louis Zoo, and The City of St. Louis.

Citizens like you can make a real difference by collecting valuable information and contributing to a larger, world-wide effort again this year.