Community Profile

Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, LA

Sid Edwards

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Baton Rouge is Louisiana’s capital and one of its largest urban centers. Located along the Mississippi River, the City-Parish (officially the City of Baton Rouge & East Baton Rouge Parish) blends rich cultural history, diverse communities, major educational and research institutions, and vibrant natural landscapes from urban parks to nearby wetlands. It’s a regional hub for government, education, healthcare, and industry. Mayor-President Emile 'Sid' Edwards and the Baton Rouge City-Parish leadership have signed (and renewed) the pledge to reaffirm the community’s role in supporting monarchs as they migrate through the region and to highlight the importance of habitat restoration, native plantings (like milkweed), and pollinator-friendly spaces in public gardens and parks. Local efforts help sustain these butterflies — and other pollinators — that are vital for healthy ecosystems, pollinating plants that support wildlife and local food systems. By taking the pledge year after year, Baton Rouge signals its ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and community engagement in wildlife conservation, making the city-parish part of a broader national movement to reverse monarch declines and protect natural heritage

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2026

Communications and Convening ▸

Issue a proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. This proclamation must incorporate a focus on monarch conservation.
Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)
Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.
Engage with Homeowners Associations (HOAs), Community Associations or neighborhood organizations to identify opportunities to plant monarch gardens and revise maintenance and mowing programs.
Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.

Program and Demonstration Gardens ▸

Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.
Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants along roadsides, medians, or public rights-of-way.
Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.

Systems Change ▸

Launch, expand, or continue an effort to change municipal planting ordinances and practices to include more native milkweed and native nectar producing plants at city properties.

Past Pledge Archive

Mayor Name	Program Year	Pledge Date	Achievement
Mayor Sid Edwards	2026	2/23/2026		View Pledge
Mayor-President Emile 'Sid' Edwards	2025	3/18/2025	Leadership Circle	View Pledge
Mayor-President of Baton Rouge /East Baton Rouge Parish Sharon Weston Broome	2024	3/28/2024	Signatories	View Pledge

Pledge Status

Pledge Date

Program Year

Links and Uploads

Action Item Report