2026 UPDATES
Oh, It’s On!
We heartily welcome to our newest regional City Nature Challenge competitor, Northwest Louisiana!
New Team Challenge
Feeling competitive? A new team contest has just arrived: The 2026 Otter Games!
New Badges
Collect them all! If you are participating in the City Nature Challenge, April 24-27, feel free to use this participant badge for your social media profile or feed! This is a new feature from the global organizers, and there will be a new badge every year. The snail was selected for the new emphasis on slowing down to make quality observations instead of rushing for quantity.
2026 City Nature Challenge Participant Badge
Sticker
The 2026 sticker is printed! It features a gorgeous Mudsnake illustrated by Rordam James.
New Changes
This is the 11th year for the City Nature Challenge, and the Baton Rouge Region’s 6th year participating! The global organizers have announced some new changes for 2026:
Casual observations and observations of cultivated and captive organisms will no longer count toward the CNC.
Identification week is now two weeks! April 28 - May 10. Results will be announced May 13.
Quality over quantity is now the overarching theme in order to build more robust data for research.
New PARTNERSHIPS
We are very excited to announce two new City Nature Challenge partners:
Preserving and Showcasing Louisiana's Natural and Historic Treasures.
Louisiana’s state parks and historic sites are a great way for visitors to experience the Sportsman’s Paradise. Book a cabin or campsite and see for yourself why our State Parks system is the best!
Provenance specializes in sustainable and eco friendly gardens, raised beds, containers, window boxes, balconies, courtyards and more. Plus one-of-a-kind native plant dried arrangements.
Louisiana Native Plant Society
For the preservation, conservation, and study of native plants in their habitats; the promotion of knowledge of their utilization; and the education of the public about the values of native plants and their habitats.
Project Links
Our CNC iNaturalist project is ready. Start planning your CNC outings! Click the Join button to add the project to your profile so you can find it more easily. (You do not need to join the project for your observations to count.)
The global iNaturalist project is also ready. It is fun to watch observations come in from other countries.
iNaturalist ambassadors
A new ambassador program has recently been launched by iNaturalist and our region has four ambassadors that are dedicated to sharing their love of nature and helping others discover iNaturalist. If you would like to ask questions, or request a nature walk or presentation, find and contact an Ambassador.