Thank you for making Asia Nature Challenge a big success.
The Asia Nature Challenge is a movement to reconnect people with nature and make Asia’s biodiversity visible to the world. Observing and sharing what lives around us, we aim to create a living record that inspires care, knowledge, and action. And we aim to do it together.
What is the Asia Nature Challenge?
Asia is home to incredible biodiversity and over half the world’s people. Yet it contributes less than 9% of the 250 million+ verifiable observations on iNaturalist. The Asia Nature Challenge (ANC) is a citizen science movement that aims to change this. When people across the region pause to notice and share the wild life around them, we help tell a more complete story of Asia’s nature. And in doing so, we create small moments of connection, curiosity, and care.
The Asia Nature Challenge is a 10-day event with two simple phases, and everyone is welcome to join! From October 3 to 6, head outdoors and take a closer look at the nature around you. Photograph or record the sounds of any wild plants, animals, fungi, or other living things you find, and upload your observations to iNaturalist. From October 7 to 12, help identify what others have shared. You can also finish uploading anything you recorded during the observation days.
Whether you’re an individual, a school, a local group, or an environmental organisation, the Asia Nature Challenge invites you to explore, observe, and share the nature around you. Your contributions on iNaturalist don’t just stay on the app. They feed into global biodiversity databases and are used in real research and conservation efforts around the world. Every observation helps fill the gaps in knowledge about Asia’s wild species. Together, we can grow Asia’s role in citizen science and build a deeper connection with the living world around us.
What Are the Key Goals?
ANC intends to inspire communities across Asia to become active contributors of citizen science. By documenting local flora and fauna, participants can deepen their connection with nature and contribute to a larger conservation mission. The project key goals include:
- Expand Citizen Science Participation: Mobilise diverse communities across Asia to actively engage in documenting the region’s biodiversity, fostering a sense of environmental stewardship and involvement.
- Enhance Biodiversity Data Quality: Increase the percentage of verifiable and research-grade observations, ensuring that data collected is reliable and valuable for conservation and scientific research.
- Fill Data Gaps: Target under-explored regions and lesser-known species, encouraging observations from areas previously undocumented to provide a comprehensive understanding of Asia’s unique ecosystems.
Aligned with CitizenScience.Asia’s broader mission, the ANC also emphasises building connections by strengthening networks among established citizen scientists and environmental organisations, building capacity by making accessible digital tools and educational resources to reduce barriers and enhance participants’ skills, and building conversations by fostering dialogues with social entrepreneurs and policymakers to amplify Asia’s voice in global biodiversity discussions.
How to Get Involved
Taking part in the Asia Nature Challenge is easy and rewarding! As an individual, you can join as a participant during one or both phases of the event: Observation and Identification. If you or your affiliated organisation would like to do even more, consider becoming a collaborating organiser!
FAQs
What is the Asia Nature Challenge?
The Asia Nature Challenge is a continent-wide initiative encouraging people across Asia to observe and document nature and wildlife in their local areas using the iNaturalist platform.
Who all can participate? How do I participate?
Anyone in Asia can participate! Whether you’re a nature enthusiast, student, or just curious, all are welcome to join and share observations. Simply explore nature in your area, record findings of plants, animals, or any other organisms, and share them to the iNaturalist during the event observation period (October 18-21). You can also participate by assisting with identification of the collected observations during the identification period (October 22-27).
Be sure to sign up to let us know so we can provide additional guidance and a certificate to recognise your effort!
How does identification work? How do I do that?
Experts on iNaturalist who can identify will give you identification for your observations, you can also contribute to identifying observations by putting them into lowest classification you know about the observation.
Can we upload videos as observations?
No, there is no support for uploading of video observations on iNaturalist at this point.
What types of observations are valid?
Any wild organisms like plants, insects, birds, or fungi, any evidence of their presence can be uploaded as an observation. Domesticated animals or plants in gardens (casual observations) do not count as wild observations and will not be considered for this event.
How can I help promote the challenge?
You can help by sharing the challenge on social media and inviting your friends, family, and community to join and share their observations. Hashtags #AsiaNatureChallenge and #CitSciANC2024 will be used for this event, so use them widely. Have fun!
Resources
This playlist is your go-to guide for mastering iNaturalist! Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your skills, these videos cover everything you need to know. From making your first observation using the app to geotagging your photos, uploading sounds and using the Identify page, you are all covered. You’ll find tips, tricks, and step-by-step tutorials to enhance your experience. Check out the FAQs and the Identify Page Tutorial for advanced tips. Let’s get started! Watch the playlist here.
This ‘Biodiversity Explorer Kit’ is for simply anybody to fall in love with biodiversity in your backyard. This kit comprises a series of guides to observe and document life around you, it is designed to help you get started in engaging with and learning about the fascinating flora and fauna that we share our world with. It offers tips on how to make observations and field tricks. What are you waiting for? Get out there and explore! You can download it from this link.
Collaborating Organisers (COs)
We’re excited to share details of our amazing Collaborating Organisers (COs), dedicated leaders who are helping Asian biodiversity shine by engaging and mobilizing their communities. Take a moment to browse the table below to find a CO in your region or city, and feel free to reach out using their contact information. We’re truly grateful for their commitment and want to celebrate the energy and passion they bring to this collective effort.
Host Organisations
CitizenScience.Asia is a leading platform dedicated to promoting citizen science efforts across Asia. By connecting communities, researchers, and organisations, it works to improve the capacity for biodiversity data collection and advance sustainability conversations through initiatives like the Asia Nature Challenge.
The Naturalist School is a leading capacity-building initiative in India, offering government-recognised certification and training programmes for naturalists, educators, and nature guides. Through a strong focus on ecological understanding and field-based learning, it equips individuals to engage meaningfully with the natural world and support nature-based tourism, education, and conservation.
Project Team
Ram Dayal Vaishnav
Project Co-Founder
Mendel Wong
Project Co-Founder
Anukriti Sharma
Project Lead
Ashwin A
Project Lead
Scott Edmunds
Project Advisor
Eesha Mishra
Lead Coordinator
Aanchal Sharma
Coordinator
Ayesha Khan
Coordinator
Isha Patwardhan
Design CoordinatorSupporting Organisations
"The City Nature Challenge (CNC) global organizing teams at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences are very excited about the launch of the Asia Nature Challenge and to celebrate the large-scale engagement. Like the Great Southern Bioblitz, the Asia Nature Challenge is another international community science effort demonstrating the powerful model that CNC has become. We support the ANC organizers and all participants in their endeavor!"
LILA HIGGINS, Co-Director & Founder, City Nature Challenge
