AUSTIN— More than 150 cities around the world, including eight in Texas, are gearing up to compete in this year’s annual City Nature Challenge. From April 26-29, Amarillo, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Lower Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio can participate in the challenge to see which urban area has the most diverse landscape.

Residents of these cities and the surrounding areas can show the world just how much nature lives in Texas. Anyone can participate by joining an event or making observations using the iNaturalist app by taking a picture of a wild animal, plant or fungi and uploading it to iNaturalist (www.inaturalist.org). The online community also helps amateur citizen scientists accurately identify the species found in their area.

After the challenge closes, participants can still log in to iNaturalist between April 30- May 5 to help make identifications of nature finds during the challenge.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Master Naturalists, the Audubon Society, and many others in Texas will be joining this fun challenge. The data generated from this event is used by researchers, land managers and policy makers throughout the year.

Go to www.tpwd.texas.gov/naturechallenge to link to Texas projects and learn more about how you can participate. You can also contact the Texas Nature Trackers program at tracker@tpwd.texas.gov with any questions.

The City Nature Challenge is organized on a global scale by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences.