City Nature Challenge

The City Nature Challenge is an annual event  when Coquitlam competes with communities around the world  promotes to gather observations about nature, find interesting species and engage people using iNaturalist, a project of National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences.

2026 City Nature Challenge - April 24 to 27

Help Coquitlam and partner municipalities in Metro Vancouver compete with communities around the world from  by gathering nature observations and finding interesting species to record using the iNaturalist app. 

Como Lake Park Event - April 22

Pop by the Parks Team's Earth Day Event at Como Lake Park (700 Gatensbury Street) on April 22 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.  and chat with our Environment Team to learn how to download the app and record observations. 

Check out 'how to' links on this webpage  to better understand how to sign up for an iNaturalist account, make observations, and more. You can also watch this webinar video made by the Canadian Federation Wildlife Federation.

iNaturalist is a third-party app, and the City of Coquitlam makes no claims about the security or privacy of its use. View the iNaturalist Privacy Policy.

Using the iNaturalist App

iNaturalist is an initiative of National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences, iNaturalist is a network of citizens, naturalists and biologists who map and share observations about biodiversity around the globe. 

The app is free and open to everyone. Members can browse nearby posts, upload their own images and audio recordings, and receive feedback and information from the iNaturalist community. 

To have your observations counted in this year’s City Nature Challenge:

  • Sign up online to iNaturalist or download the free iNaturalist app from the App Store or Google Play and create an account. 
  • Make your observations - they may include descriptions, uploaded photos, or photo or audio recordings through the app. Photos should be clear and full-frame.

Check out 'how to'links on this webpage to better understand how to sign up for an iNaturalist account, make observations, and more. You can also watch this webinar video made by the Canadian Federation Wildlife Federation.

iNaturalist is a third-party app, and the City of Coquitlam makes no claims about the security or privacy of its use. View the iNaturalist Privacy Policy.

2025 City Nature Challenge

Coquitlam joined our neighbouring communities and all participating municipalities across Metro Vancouver to combine all our efforts. In 2025, Metro Vancouver Regional District had the most observations of unique species in all of Canada. Way to go!

  • Total observations - 36,251
  • Total species - 2,127