City Nature Challenge (CNC) Dehradun 2025
A Celebration of Urban Biodiversity
From April 25–28, 2025, EcoSanskriti organized City Nature Challenge (CNC) in Dehradun, a citizen science event that brought people together to observe and record urban biodiversity using the iNaturalist app.
Over the course of four days, 8 BioBlitz walks were organized across the city—spanning locations like the Thano forests, Jhajra and Manduwala sal woodlands, the lush green corners of Maldevta with students from Dehradun Hills Academy, and concluding with a special walk at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), led by Dr. Gautam Talukdar.
🌿 Key Highlights:
70+ observers participated
2,800+ observations were recorded
700+ species documented
From a crab spider hunting a bee to glimpses of a 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗴, 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵, 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗹𝘆 to mosses and Madhavi lata (𝘏𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴), City Nature Challenge Dehradun was truly a celebration of nature
This city-wide initiative was made possible through the support of our amazing partners:
Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dolphin PG Institute, Doon Business School, Nature’s Buddy and Dehradun Hills Academy.
The City Nature Challenge is a global movement that encourages people around the world to connect with their local environment, contribute to biodiversity research, and foster a deeper appreciation for nature. Read more about it here - https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/.
CNC Dehradun 2025 was more than just a biodiversity documentation effort—it was a celebration of curiosity, community, and conservation.
Observations recorded as part of the biodiversity assessment can be found here - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2025-dehradun
Reach out to us at info@ecosanskriti.com if you would like a detailed report of CNC Dehradun 2025.
BioQuest - Coverage in Media
BioQuest 2024 received widespread coverage across local media in Uttarakhand, highlighting its impact in promoting citizen science, biodiversity conservation, and community engagement. The event brought together nature enthusiasts, researchers, and students, documenting over 1,000 observations and close to 400 species.
CitSci India - Dec 2024
Rishov Biswas, Co-Founder of EcoSanskriti, presented at the CitSci India 2024 Conference held from 12 Dec - 13 Dec 2024. The theme of the poster presentation was “BioQuest 2024: Enabling experiential learning, conservation and eco-tourism through citizen science: A case study from Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand”
CitSci India 2024 is a 2-day national conference on Citizen Science for Biodiversity, organized under the umbrella of Biodiversity collaborative
Asia Nature Challenge (ANC) - Oct 2024
𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗸𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶 organized nature walks simultaneously in Dehradun and Bangalore as part of 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲!
In Dehradun, the walk was held in collaboration with Dolphin (PG) Institute of Biomedical & Natural Sciences, Dehradun. Led by Prof (Dr) Sas Biswas (Honorary Director , EcoSanskriti & Professor, Department of Forestry) , Dr Sandhya Goswami (HOD, Department of Forestry), Dr VPS Rawat (Associate Professor, Department of Forestry) and other faculty members, students observed and recorded various species of flora and fauna inside the campus of the Institute. Students were also oriented on the iNaturalist app as many of them were first time users.
In Bangalore, residents of Astro Green Park Regency came together on a rainy Sunday morning to document the urban biodiversity inside their apartment campus. Despite the drizzle, more than 50 species of flora and fauna were observed inside the green campus. Thanks to the sunshine after the rains, many co-residents came out in large numbers. This included the predatory assassin bugs, nesting weaver ants, ant mantises, slugs, millipedes and grasshoppers!
