Discovery. Stewardship. Action. Service is at the core of being a certified California Naturalist. It's why for the start of National Volunteer Week, we take this special opportunity to thank our naturalists for their 47,055 hours of volunteer hours recorded in 2019 alone. While these hours hold an astonishing monetary value of $1,409,297, what's done within these hours holds so much more value to the people and places of California. From designing new interpretive walks, creating guides, monitoring water quality, creating art, participating in restoration work days, and almost 4,000 other volunteer projects from our certified naturalists, they have all changed the way others learn about and experience the natural world.
Volunteering time to complete a 40-hour course, plus an 8-hour capstone project, shows dedication to learning and sharing California's natural history. Our naturalists turn the content knowledge gained in our courses into a deeper love, appreciation, and understanding for the places they live. Naturalists are stones dropped in a pond, whose work creates ripples effects into their communities and throughout the statewide program.
As we experience changes in access to the outdoors and natural spaces, volunteering in the same capacities also changes. We celebrate the work of our naturalists and offer a chance to continue doing what our naturalists do best! We ask our naturalists to join our statewide California Naturalist iNaturalist project to help us continue to consolidate all contributions into one statewide project. If you are a certified naturalist, simply join the project, and all your observations taken in California will be added to the project.
Engaging with iNaturalist is not only a core requirement for becoming a certified naturalist, it's a tool for staying connected. With the coming City Nature Challenge April 24-27 encouraging us to safely explore and record the nature in our immediate homes and neighborhoods, naturalists have an opportunity to do what they do best. You can contribute your observations or ID skills towards scientific biodiversity data. How have you gotten ready for the City Nature Challenge? Let us know by filling out one of the prompts in our survey. If you want to learn more about the City Nature Challenge, go to the main page.
From the CalNat team, thank you for all that you have done and continue to do in service to California's natural ecosystems!