The third annual City Nature Challenge, taking place from April 27 to 30,  will include more than 65 cities from 17 countries around the world including seven metro areas in Texas: Amarillo, Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Lower Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio. The object is to determine which urban area has the most nature and the most engaged residents

It’s easy to participate by joining an event or making solo observations. Take a picture of a wild animal, plant or fungus, upload it to the iNaturalist app (iNaturalist.org), and the online community (iNaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2018-dallas-fort-worth) will help identify the species. The group will also need help from May 1 through 3 with identifications on iNaturalist so we can share our Texas nature knowledge will others around the world to help make this project a success.

The data generated from this event will help researchers, land managers and policymakers in Dallas. Also, each observation helps with the digital and filterable field guides on iNaturalist, so please participate. Here are the events scheduled to date:

April 27

• 9 a.m. to noon at Wakefield Heights Park, 704 Elizabeth Dr., Burleson.
• 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at UNT Discovery Park at the Pollinator Prairie, 3940 N. Elm St., Denton.
• 1 to 2 p.m. at UTD Campus Monarch/Bee Waystation, 2114 University Pkwy., Richardson,
• 4 to 6 p.m. at Parr Park, 3100 Parr Ln., Grapevine.
• 8 to 11 a.m. at Mothing at Mockingbird Park, 1361 Onward Rd., Midlothian.
• 8 to 10 a.m. at Mothing at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center,1206 W. Fm 1382, Cedar Hill.

April 28

• 9 a.m. to noon at BioBlitz at Crawford Park, 8600 Elam Rd., Dallas.
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Heard Museum, 1 Nature Pl., McKinney.
• 10 to noon at Grapevine Botanical Garden, 411 Ball St., Grapevine.
• 1 to 3 p.m. at Parr Par, 3100 Parr Ln., Grapevine.
• 2 to 5 p.m. at BioBlitz at L.B. Houston, 1775 California Crossing Rd., Dallas.

April 29

• Noon to 3 p.m. at BioBlitz at Emerald Lake, 6102 Mountain Creek Pkwy., Dallas.
• 1 to 4 p.m. at BioBlitz at Twelve Hills Nature Center, 817 Mary Cliff Rd., Dallas.
• 2 to 4 p.m. at Nature walk at Meadowmere Park, 3000 Meadowmere Ln., Grapevine.
• 2 to 5 p.m. at Chisolm Trail Community Park, 4936 McPherson Blvd., Fort Worth.

Visit tpwd.Texas.gov/naturechallenge or CityNatureChallenge.com to watch the Texas leaderboard and learn more about how to participate. Email the Texas Nature Trackers program at tracker@tpwd.texas.gov with any questions.

For more stories like this read Natural Awakenings Dallas-Ft Worth magazine at NADallas.com