City Nature Challenge: Bellini Preserve Bioblitz

Scrub ecosystems are among the rarest in Florida. Join us to bioblitz at Polk County's newest environmental lands location - Bellini Preserve!

The property we will be bioblitzing is approximately 650 acres of mixed habitat types. Lake Marion, where Bellini Preserve is located, is home to hardwood forests, scrublands, sandhill, hardwoods, freshwater marshlands and swamplands.

While the Bellini Preserve is largely comprised of undeveloped scrubland, it’s seven miles of trails lead visitors through a variety of terrain and habitats, culminating in a lakeside view.

Details on the meeting place at Bellini and a trail map will be sent out to RSVP'ed participants soon.

Prior to arrival, participants should have ...

• A smartphone with the iNaturalist app, prior to arrival
• An iNaturalist account setup and logged in, prior to arrival
• A sense of adventure!

Prior experience using iNaturalist is recommended, but not required.

Please have an account setup and the app downloaded to your phone prior to arrival, in case you do not have good cell service once you arrive.

Advanced iNaturalist users are welcome to participate with their DSLR or other digital camera and bulk upload their observations after returning home for the day. For observations to count for the City Nature Challenge, they must be uploaded by Sunday evening, April 27th.

This event is offered by UF/IFAS Extension Polk County and Polk County's Environmental Lands Program as a part of City Nature Challenge 2025, organized by The Nature Conservancy.

Learn more about the aquisition of Bellini Preserve:

Polk County purchased the land for $7.5 million in September 2023 to protect it from development. The purchase was part of an agreement between the county, Conservation Florida and the Department of Defense, with funding assistance from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Resilient Florida grant program.

“The Bellini Preserve is an excellent example of a partnership conservation project,” said Gaye Sharpe, Parks and Natural Resources Division director. “It brought together non-profit, local, state and federal funding to acquire approximately 640 acres of land along the eastern shore of Lake Marion.”

The county’s purchase of the Bellini Preserve will protect more than three miles of Lake Marion’s shoreline from development, reducing pollution and improving water quality. The property is home to sand skinks, a federally threatened species, and gopher tortoises, a regionally and state-designated threatened species.

“This project highlights the success of Polk County’s commitment to caring for our water and natural resources,” Sharpe said. “It protects the native lake shoreline, providing nature-based water quality improvement solutions for our lakes, rivers and natural areas while building more resilient communities. Safeguarding our water resources was a priority for this project.”