Battery Park City contains multitudes! From climate resiliency to environmental sustainability, from housing affordability to diverse programming in world-class public spaces, Battery Park City’s first-ever Strategic Plan encompasses a wide range of initiatives. It even includes insects.
One goal of that plan seeks to establish BPC as a biodiversity haven, by building on its efforts to make the neighborhood a sanctuary for nature. Today, Battery Park City is home to a diverse array of wildlife. Many species of insects, including native pollinators, inhabit its gardens and lawns – and now so do ladybugs.
The Nine-Spotted Ladybug, a native and endangered species, is the State insect of New York. This week, to help to repopulate these ecologically-important insects that keep our flora healthy and safe from other plant-eating insects, BPCA released 1,100 ladybugs throughout Battery Park City’s public spaces.
This effort is part of the larger Lost Ladybug Project, a more than 20-year old initiative led by Cornell University researchers to survey ladybug populations across New York State and determines the cause(s) of this particular species’ decline. To date, including the 1,100 released in Battery Park City, nearly 40,000 ladybugs have been contributed to this effort!
More than 100 of these were released in the Rockefeller Park Children’s Garden by attendees of our Young Sprouts Gardening program, which offers weekly themes and activities geared for young children to enjoy our organic gardening practices, focused on how beneficial insects, birds, and plants interact in our unique urban garden. In this way, and in keeping with another of our strategic goals, BPCA can not only educate the next generation about biodiversity but promote well-being and lifelong learning through our incredible natural environment.
You too can help! Download the free iNaturalistapp, which collects user-generated observations to help contribute to biodiversity science. Then, if you spot any ladybug adults, larva, or eggs in the park, take a photo and upload to the Battery Park City Wildlife page.
The more than 1,600 observations made so far help our dedicated Parks Operations team monitor the wildlife that live and visit Battery Park City to continue to ensure the appropriate habitats for them.
So come join the fun! It’s as enjoyable as a day in the park.
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