City Nature Challenge 2023 Results

As the official organizer of the New York City City Nature Challenge, Macaulay is pleased to share the results of this year’s event, which took place from April 28 through May 3.

City Nature Challenge in New York City

505 New York City nature lovers used the iNaturalist app to record 14,391 observations (6,265 of them research grade) of 1555 species. The event drew 154 new observers,  and 63 new species were added to the iNaturalist database.

Macaulay students and staff made a real impact on the results for all of New York City, recording 7.8% of all observations and 18.6% of the species of the whole project (there were many overlapping species). In addtion, there were twelve species ID’ed at the research Grade level that only came from Macaulay; in other words, our students and staff were the only observers to contribute those species to the entire dataset. As Macaulay Science Forward Director Kelly O’ Donnell said, “Great job, Macaulay!”

Student volunteers are an important part of City Nature Challenge. They not only make observations, but attend events in all five boroughs to help visitors to gardens, parks and greenspaces learn to use the app. Special congratulations and thanks to @dshair, @itsesmetzis03, @yellowtulip, @respectable_absorption, @jacky_, and @julia_aiello.

Global City Nature Challenge

This year, 482 cities across 46 countries participated in the City Nature Challenge. Over 66,000 people made over 1.87 million observation sof over 57,000 species. Global organizers at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles created an infographic with results. VIEW INFOGRAPHIC