It's Boston Area vs. World In 2018 City Nature Challenge

We're not going to let New York beat us, are we? How about the rest of the world?

This weekend Zoo New England invites all amateur nature lovers in the Boston area to join them in the 2018 City Nature Challenge. The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an international citizen science project with cities worldwide competing to explore and record all kinds of plants, animals, fungi, and even microorganisms in their area using the free iNaturalist app. This year’s annual bio-blitz starts Friday, ends Monday, and will include 65 participating cities representing 17 countries and 5 continents. Last year, Boston came in 8th out of 16 participating cities in the United States, and this year looks to elevate its ranking, all in the spirit of friendly competition.

The idea is simple. Find as many species as possible, take photos of them, and load them to the iNaturalist app. The goal is to provide a picture of biodiversity in the Boston area, not to mention, collect more than the other participating cities. Any observation of plants, animals, fungi, even microbes, in the greater Boston area made during these days will count for the challenge. You can follow along and see how your town is doing by clicking here.

In addition to your own backyard or any public green space, here are some other suggestions in the Boston area.

North Shore

In Beverly, check out West Beach, Brackenberry Beach, and the Beverly Commons Conservation Area. In Marblehead, try the Lead Mills Conservation Area. Mass Audubon sites are also good choices with the Cedar Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Wenham, the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport all excellent locations. Conservation lands in Swampscott are also excellent opportunities with the Harold King Forest Conservation Area and the Palmer Pond Conservation Area good choices. In Salem there are seven good wildlife areas including Salem Woods, Pikman Salt Marsh, Forest River Conservation Area, Collins Cove, Derby Warf, Winter Island, and Misery Island all in play.

South Shore

Five Mass Audubon sites will be participating including Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon, the Museum of American Bird Art in Canton, Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk, and Marshfield's North River and Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuaries. In addition there's Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Hanson, Myles Standish State Forest in Carver, Pond Meadow Park in Braintree, Setson Meadows in Norwell, and in Hingham, Wompatuck State Park and Worlds End.

Metro West

Drumlin Farm in Sudbury and Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, both Mass Audubon sites, are participating. Also, Great Meadows National Wildlife Sanctuary in Sudbury and Concord, Walden Pond in Concord and Lincoln, and Wright Farm in Lexington are good options.

Metro Boston

Closer to Boston, Mass Audubon has sites in Mattapan at the Boston Nature Center, Belmont with the Habitat Education Center, and Milton at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum. Also, in Cambridge there's Fresh Pond and the Mt. Auburn Cemetery along with the six parks that make up the Emerald Necklace.

The Boston Area CNC is being organized by a steering committee comprised of Earthwatch Institute, Encyclopedia of Life, Environmental Studies Program Brandeis University, Mass Audubon, MIT Senseable City Lab, New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative, University of Massachusetts Boston, and Zoo New England.

As for the competition, Dallas/Fort Worth is the defending champion. For the record, Boston may have been eighth but New York City was ninth. For more information, check out the Zoo New England website.

Photo courtesy Zoo New England