Haifa Urban Nature Challenge • April 24–27, 2026

On Friday, April 17, a training session was held at the Windmill Garden on how to use the INaturalist app in preparation for the Urban Nature Documentation Challenge that will begin on April 24–27, 2026.

The Urban Nature Challenge is a friendly international competition aimed at documenting the biodiversity of cities around the world. It is a large-scale citizen science initiative in which city dwellers become “citizen scientists,” asked to go outside, observe plants, animals, and fungi in their urban environment, and document them using the iNaturalist app.

In Israel, the challenge is being run by the Museum of Natural History and Civic Science, Tel Aviv University, and the Society for the Protection of Nature.
The Haifa Municipality, one of the four cities participating in the challenge this year, has joined the challenge. Haifa has plenty of opportunities to photograph urban nature, and as part of the challenge, Haifa will compete with Tel Aviv-Yafo, Herzliya, and Rehovot for the largest number of participants, reports, and species recorded in the app.

For details and information about the 2026 Urban Nature Challenge, click here.

How do you participate?

To participate in the challenge and document the flora and fauna (The bar only) within the city limits. You need to download the app to your phone and photograph each species and plant separately. The app is easy to use and you can find instructions on the Citizen Science website – Urban Nature Challenge.

So come upload the beautiful photos of Haifa's urban bar that you took to the app. It is very important to document our abundant urban nature in the courtyards, open spaces, and wadis of Haifa. This way we can protect nature from construction initiatives that could harm important natural values.
For the Haifa Urban Nature Challenge 2026 project page, click here.