Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is inviting residents to become citizen scientists for a weekend as part of the world’s largest nature challenge, BioBlitz.
Running from Friday 24 to Monday 27 April, the four-day City Nature Challenge 2026 encourages people across the county to photograph and record as many plants, animals, fungi and other wildlife as possible. All observations made within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent during this period will count towards the local project.
The challenge began as a friendly competition between San Francisco and Los Angeles but has grown into a global event. In 2025, 669 cities took part, with nearly 103,000 people making 3.3 million observations. Last year, 167 participants in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire recorded 12,048 sightings of 1,433 species.
Fern Brown, Ecological Data Officer at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, said: “By putting on your scientist hat once a year, you can help get a lot of nature information fast, and make a big difference. Last year Staffordshire made more than 12,000 records in four days.
“These records help us learn a lot about how wildlife is doing. It lets us track where species are thriving, or where some wildlife may need help. It can give us clues about seasonal weather patterns in relation to plants. And sometimes we even discover rare bugs that we haven’t seen in the county before.”
Participants can submit photos via the free iNaturalist app or through the iNaturalist website. Observations can include living or dead organisms, or evidence such as shells, tracks and feathers, but not humans, dogs or cats.
There is a week after the challenge, until Sunday 10 May, to upload and identify all observations from the event. Local and global results will be announced on 10 and 13 May respectively.
Fern added: “It’s also a lot of fun. You don’t need a lot of time, just a casual photo on your daily dog walk helps a lot. Or, if you’re looking for an excuse to get outside and explore, you can rise to the challenge and take part each day during the event. There are lots of beautiful places in the county to discover. We hope you’ll join us in this fun, but necessary, research for wildlife.”
The event is coordinated globally by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and locally by Staffordshire Ecological Record and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. Participation is free.
