From 25–28 April, Te Upoko o te Ika (Wellington Region) will join over 650 cities worldwide and across Aotearoa to record as many species as possible in the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge.
Showcase the incredible taonga our region has by taking part either by simply exploring your own backyard, joining the guided events, or get a group of friends and whānau together to explore different parts of the region in a giant nature treasure hunt.
City Nature Challenge 2025
Last year the Wellington region answered the call of nature recording 18,172 observations of 2,490 different species from 272 participants taking 2nd place to Ōtautahi Christchurch on the Aotearoa leaderboard – and we’re aiming to top it this year says Julia Baldwin from Wellington City Council’s Parks, Sports and Recreation team.
“Wellingtonians really get into the spirit of this event, showing their connection and pride in the natural environment literally on their doorstep.
“The observations and data our local citizen scientists collate are a key tool in monitoring, retaining and restoring our native taonga, and providing important information about ecosystems and urban biodiversity for research and policy decision making.
“This event is also a significant contributor to our native bird monitoring programme, helping us better understand where they’re thriving and where they need a bit more support.
“With help from the community we can celebrate nature, get out and engage with the environment, maybe discover a new or rare species, and more importantly, have some fun connecting with friends and whānau.”
How to get involved:
• Download the iNaturalist app for Android and for Apple and get out in nature to start making observations.
• All observations recorded from 25 April – 28 April within the Wellington Region boundary during the challenge will automatically be added to Wellington’s tally.
• Identify what was found from 29 April – 4 May. If you are confident in identifying a species, jump onto iNaturalist and go to the project page to make identifications.
• Come along to one of our events – keep an eye on our City Nature Challenge webpage for information.
Here’s a list of species we’re encouraging everyone to keep an eye out for as they’re a little bit harder to find:
• Kiwi
• Rimu Kakauroa – Giant Kelp
• Pūriri Moth
• Elvers
• Buddleia – weed
• Blue passionflower
• The Noddy flycap
• Ngaokeoke/ NZ Peripatus
• Arachnocampa luminosa (NZ glow worms)
You can keep up with Wellington’s results on our City Nature Challenge page, and the progress other Aotearoa cities are making on the international City Nature Challenge website.