When it comes to conserving any habitat, one of the most effective tools is thorough documentation of the area. With this goal in mind, a group of like-minded individuals came together from April 25 to April 28 to participate in the City Nature Challenge (CNC).
Thanks to their collective efforts, Goa secured the 4th position in India with 20,265 observations — among all the cities and states that took part in the City Nature Challenge 2025.
In the same category, Hyderabad once again claimed the top spot with 33,989 observations.
GOA SCENARIO
Goa also achieved 5th position nationally in the category of Most Species Observed, recording 1,928 species. Nanakmatta (Uttarakhand) led this category with 2,574 species documented.
This is a major boost for Goa as last year, there were just 843 entries. During these four days, some rare species were also documented. A few notable highlights being Aberrant Oakblue and Banded Royal (rare butterfly species), both observed by Devesh Naik.
Goa also achieved 5th position nationally in the category of Most Species Observed, recording 1,928 species. Nanakmatta (Uttarakhand) led this category with 2,574 species documented.
From Goa, 155 people participated this year, in the activity co-ordinated by WWF-Goa. The top contributors were Suhani Sahani with 2,224 observations, Devesh Naik with 2,167 observations and Ankush Sahani with 1,740 observations.
In species observations, Devesh Naik observed 481 species surpassing Vithal Naik’s 405 species, and Anvay Chati’s 332 species.
WWF-Goa conducted various nature trails to create awareness about Goa’s biodiversity and how to document species. Trails and walks during the four days of the challenge were conducted to allow for documentation on a wider scale.
“This year, we put in a lot of effort in creating awareness about the City Nature Challenge, and it paid dividends where the number of records grew from 815 to 20,265 (from 18th position to 4th). We were successful in bringing together all the major organisations and groups working in nature conservation to be part of the initiative,” says Aditya Kakodkar of WWF-Goa.
“Documentation is of utmost importance to encourage citizens to collect biodiversity data as it brings them closer to nature and inculcates a sense of environmental stewardship amongst them. The collected data will be used to justify relevance of conservation initiatives in the future,” he adds.
This year, approximately 206 cities across India participated. For these four-days, participants documented the urban biodiversity by recording observations of nature using the iNaturalist app.
ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
The City Nature Challenge is a global event, hosted by the California Academia of Sciences and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County since 2014. This year, approximately 206 cities across India participated. For these four-days, participants documented the urban biodiversity by recording observations of nature using the iNaturalist app.
The coordinators (volunteers) for the City Nature Challenge Goa were Ankush Sahani (zoologist) and Vaishnavi Rajesh Naik (zoologist), which was managed by Lisha Da Costa, senior programme officer, on behalf of WWF-India.
