How to join the City Nature Challenge

The City Nature Challenge is the largest community science event in the world. It began in 2016 as a friendly competition between Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco to see which team could document the most nature in their respective cities. It’s since gone international, with the 2023 challenge bringing in over 1.8 million iNaturalist observations for scientists and decision-makers to use when figuring out how to best protect biodiversity in urban areas. This zine is a step-by-step guide to how you can join from wherever in the world you are, no matter how much or little you know about nature!

To make your zine:

1. Download this PDF & print it on 8.5" x 11" paper (or whatever paper makes your heart happy, tbh).
2. Fold the printed paper into eighths, then unfold it .
3. Fold it back in half the short way, make a cut down the middle until it reaches halfway into the folded paper, and unfold it again.
4. Fold the paper in half the long way, and push the two ends of the paper inward so that the portion you previously cut makes a diamond shape.
5. Keep pushing that direction until the paper makes an "X" shape.
6. Fold all the sections to one side so the title is at the front and you see the page with "seastarya.com" on the back.
7. That's it! If you'd like some better visuals for how to do these folds, check out this zine-making video by the San Mateo County Library.