Great Walden BioBlitz 2019 was a huge success

Naturalist E.O. Wilson shows an object to children

NPS Photo

The goal was to identify 2000 species in a five mile radius of historic Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. It was also the 20th Anniversary of the first bioblitz held at Walden Pond. And it was meant to be a birthday present to Dr. E.O. Wilson, biologist, theorist, naturalist and author, who had just turned 90 years young. By all accounts, it was a wild success.

The Great Walden BioBlitz is a collaboration between The Walden Woods Project, Minute Man National Historical Park, the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, and local naturalist Peter Alden. Over 243 individuals participated using the iNaturalist app, citing 4175 observations with 1092 species identified. An additional 110 invited biologist and naturalists compiled their observations with pen and paper and will add to the total observations for the July 6, 2019 event.

Interest in the bioblitz brought out a film crew from the Redford Institute, who is working on an Imax movie to be released in about a year. Park staff, interns and volunteers were on hand for planning and logical support and as subject matter group tour leaders.