Feb. 28, 2026
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amber M. King, Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge, amber.king@me.com, (225) 772-9138.
Baton Rouge Region Participating in the Largest Annual Biodiversity Survey in the World: The City Nature Challenge 2026
BATON ROUGE– The Baton Rouge region is participating in the 2026 City Nature Challenge, the annual biodiversity survey that started in 2016 with just two cities, and has taken the world by storm, growing to over 800 participating cities.
The Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge are the local organizers for our region and encourage everyone in Southeast Louisiana to explore nature April 24-27 and help document the wild plants and animals in our urban and rural areas. Your mission is to collect photos of wild plants and animals in the iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.org website and discover our incredible wildlife hiding in plain sight!
Taking part is easy!
Find wildlife or plant life anywhere in Southeast Louisiana. (Wild only - no landscaping plants or pets, please. It’s for science!)
Take photos of what you find April 24-27 with your phone or camera.
Great job, go find more! The event is 24 hours a day for 4 days, so look for nocturnal critters too!
Upload the photos you took between April 24-27 as observations to the iNaturalist mobile app or the iNaturalist.org website before May 10.
The Baton Rouge Region has a fun rivalry to see who can get the most participation with our nearby competitors, Northwest Louisiana, Southwest Louisiana, and our Texas neighbors, Austin and Houston.
The global organizers, the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, host this massive event with the goals of connecting people to the nature around them while collecting valuable biodiversity data that can be used to help us better understand our world and to help fight biodiversity loss. All data collected during this event is verified, and research grade observations become open source data for research.
2026 Dates:
April 24-27 Take photos.
April 28-May 10 Identification period; Extra time to upload your photos into iNaturalist.
May 13 Global results announced.
Resources:
Local City Nature Challenge information and local events: www.brnaturechallenge.org
Global City Nature Challenge information: citynaturechallenge.org
Local iNaturalist project (Region map and watch our progress)
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Images
A Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum, documented in iNaturalist in St. Francisville during the 2025 City Nature Challenge. Photo by Alexander Boulmay.
Happy hikers enjoyed a nature walk during the 2025 City Nature Challenge at Frenchtown Conservation Area led by BREC Conservation’s Interpretive Ranger, Kenneth LeCroy. Participants also helped document the plants and wildlife in the park along the way with the iNaturalist app. Photo by Amber M. King (photo taken with parental permission.)
City Nature Challenge participants document moths and insects late at night at the Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary during the 2025 City Nature Challenge. Over 100 species of arthropods were documented that night, including two rare moths for Louisiana, the Curve-lined Bird-dropping Moth, and Black-dotted Spragueia Moth. Pictured: Left of moth sheet, Amber King. Right of moth sheet, front to back, Leslie Day, Cindy Thompson, Yipin Johnson, and Brandon Johnson. Photo by Karen Westphal.
30 local organizations have partnered together to help promote and participate
in the City Nature Challenge - join us!
