April 24 – 30 is National Volunteer Week. Volunteer for the
City Nature Challenge – City Nature Challenge
City Nature Challenge Saskatoon and Area 2022
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-saskatoon-sk
In love with Saskatoon and Area’s incredible nature? You can help observe on iNat & protect it by joining this year’s #CityNatureChallenge, April 29–May 2! All you need to join is a smartphone and the free @inaturalist app. Learn more at FriendsAreas.ca Explore back yards, the afforestation areas, along the boulevards of our city streets, in the nooks and crannys of fences and trees. Participating is easy: just make observations of wild plants, animals, and fungi, anywhere in the Saskatoon and Area with the free @inaturalist app April 29 – May 2, and they’ll automatically be added to this project.
The CNC was organized by citizen science staff at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Lila Higgins) and California Academy of Sciences (Alison Young). The City Nature Challenge has become a global effort for people to find and document plants and wildlife in cities across the globe in support of world conservation efforts. It’s a fun citizen science event with a challenge where cities are in a contest against each other to see who can make the most observations of nature, who can find the most species, and who can engage the most people.
Being involved is super easy!
connect with nature- fungi, insects, Plants and Wildlife
From the CNC FAQ page; Take photos, or sound recordings of “any observations of WILD plants, animals, fungi, seaweed, bacteria, lichen, etc. you find in and around your city! Observations of living or dead organisms, or evidence of those organisms, like shells, seeds, tracks, scat, pinecones, feathers, etc., are fine. Remember to make sure you’re taking good photos of the organisms!”
Take a Picture
Take a picture of what you discover in nature. The iNaturalist app records the GPS location of the critter or plant – and you can set it to obscured or leave it as publicly known. (Don’t change location to private or it won’t be part of the City Nature Challenge)
Share!
Upload, share, save your observations through iNaturalist or Ebird or Observation.org
Duties
Why participate in the City Nature Challenge?
There is nature all around us, even in our cities! As the urban footprint and the human monoculture keeps expanding, nature is often overlooked in our cities, which has become a safe haven for many wild animals who no longer have a wild habitat. You cannot protect what you don’t know, and all of us – citizen scientists, scientists, land managers, and the community – come together in Twihamwe “working together as one” to find and document the nature in our area. The Saskatchewan Motto strengthens the volunteer spirit of the City Nature Challenge’ Multis e Gentibus Vires (Latin) (“From Many Peoples Strength!”) By participating in the City Nature Challenge, you can learn more about your local nature, and at the same time you can also make your city a better place – for you and nature!
For the COVID-19 pandemic, some modifications were implemented into the City Nature Challenge 2020 and 2021 to help keep both organizers and participants safe. It is way more important to focus on collaboration rather than competition. And we want to know about and embrace the healing power of nature and encourage the sharing of unique stories, species, habitat ranges found during the CNC. Look inside your own homes, in your own yard, in your local bus stop, along your boulevard or local park. Keep safe, follow all health guidelines for COVID, follow all health guidelines for nature as well! This year’s City Nature Challenge is a hybrid between collaboration and competition.
Create your own iNaturalist account
- Visit iNaturalist.org
- Download the app from the AppStore or Google Play
- Sign In
- Start sharing your observations
- Check back later to see the conversation about your observation!
Qualifications
iNaturalist is an free observation platform that uses both computer recognition vision technology alongside crowd sourced corroboration that acts as a place for people to record biodiversity observations, interact with other enthusiasts, and learn about organisms. Observations from iNaturalist also enrich biodiversity science within open science projects such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). Scientists (and anyone) can freely access and use these data to address their research questions. iNaturalist is as easy to use as 1-2-3!
Find It
Snap It
Share It
This guide, along with YouTube Videos, and planned Virtual events for volunteers who wish to take part will walk you through recommendations for the best ways to use iNaturalist with students in formal or informal settings so they learn from the experience and contribute high-quality observations to the iNaturalist community.
What kinds of observations of nature should I make during the CNC?
Any observations of WILD plants, animals, fungi, seaweed, bacteria, lichen, etc. you find in and around your city! Remember to check under the leaves of your cultivated plants. Observations of living or dead organisms, or evidence of those organisms, like shells, tracks, scat, feathers, etc., are fine. Remember to make sure you’re taking good photos of the organisms!
Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!
For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits
NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)?with map
Pinterest richardstbarbeb
Blogger: FriendsAfforestation
Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.comFacebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area
Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA
Reddit: FriendsAfforestation
Twitter: St Barbe Baker Charity Twitter:FriendsAreas
Mix: friendsareas
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
- Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
- Make it your own
- Spread the word about the UN Decade
- Let’s Bring Back Forests
- Let’s Green Our Cities
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 