The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an exciting annual nature-recording event, which sees a growing number of cities and regions participating from around the world! This year, the challenge is taking place between the 25th April- 28th April 2025.
Organised locally by the North and East Yorkshire Ecological Data Centre (NEYEDC), Hull CNC brings together a collaboration of organisations, volunteers and citizens across the city, including representatives from The Deep, to get involved in recording nature.
The challenge encourages people to discover the biodiversity on their doorstep, make useful biological records, and engage in friendly competition with cities around the world. Any observations made will support local conservation efforts to look after, and connect with, native wildlife in local green spaces, back gardens, nature reserves, parks and more.
Don’t worry, you don't need to be an expert to get involved in the challenge! Anyone can take part. Start by simply downloading the iNaturalist app onto your smartphone, and take photos of any wild animals, plants, birds, insects or fungi. The app will then help you identify your observation through its global community. iNaturalist can be downloaded onto mobile devices for free from the Apple Store or Google Play, or accessed via web browser.
Any observations made within the city boundaries of Hull across the dates 25th April - 28th April 2024 will count towards the City Nature Challenge. iNaturalist can also be used to submit records throughout the year too.
Join experts for organised bug hunt events across the weekend, at both Alderman Kneeshaw Park on Saturday 26th April between 11am-3pm, and at the East Park Animal Education Centre on both Friday 25th April and Monday 28th April at 1pm!
Despite being a very urban city with tight boundaries, in 2024, Hull managed to record a fantastic level of biodiversity. 7,047 observations were made across the 4 days, of 1,188 different species. These numbers placed Hull at a fantastic 7th place in the UK leaderboard for number of observations and 6th for species diversity!
This year, you can get involved and help beat last year’s record! Why not get out in the fresh air this weekend and join in with Hull’s City Nature Challenge? Let’s see what you find!