For the sixth time “City Nature Challenge” will take place in Luxembourg, citizens are invited to discover nature in their city and document it via an app.

There is a lot more nature in most cities than just a few pigeons or park trees and with its many parks, Luxembourg City is actually perfect for exploring the city's wilderness. The “City Nature Challenge”, which is held in around 400 cities around the world, runs from Friday, April 30th to Monday, May 3rd. The event was brought to life by the California Academy of Sciences, and in Luxembourg the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) is coordinating.

The nature observations are collected using the iNaturalist app and later evaluated before the results are published on May 10th. Last year in Luxembourg 400 people sent in their observations. A total of around 1,000 species were observed, including three premieres: the hoverfly species Sphiximorpha subsessilis and the two spider species Carrhotus xanthogramma and Zoropsis spinimana.

If you want to take part, all you have to do is download the iNaturalist app. A small guide describes how you can easily find out about the biodiversity around your own home. Then it's time to take photos with the app - its built-in image recognition can automatically recognize most species. The MNHN has put a tutorial for the app on YouTube. Between May 4th and 9th, the observations will be assessed by experts and volunteers on the iNaturalist platform and, in case of doubt, also determined.

Further information on the City Nature Challenge can be found on the MNHN website and on citynaturechallenge.org.

(This article is adapted from WOXX.lu)