PNW Pollinator Pathways: Community initiative to promote citizen support of pollinator conservation
“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our heart.” — Winnie The Pooh
…And make the biggest difference. As a teacher, student, and parent, I want to keep our planet thriving for the next generations because of my deep appreciation and love of the natural world, and its many wonders, big and small. As a native Washingtonian, from a state that is known for its bountiful crops of apples, cherries, and grapes, I know that local food security and the agricultural communities rely on a healthy and vital ecosystem that includes some of those smallest of wonders, the pollinators. According to the Managed Pollinator Protection Plan put out by the WA State Department of Agriculture, “the value of crops pollinated by bees in Washington State was over $3 billion (primarily tree fruits, small fruits, and seed crops” in 2016. On a global scale, 75% of all food crops rely on pollinators, and yet we face a world in which 40% of those same pollinator populations are in dramatic decline (McGrath).
I’d like to think that most people who read the news and have made it through the rigors of an elementary classroom in the last five years (sometimes, though not usually, the same folk) are aware that the honeybees are dying. They are our furry little poster child of the pollinator world, and we know their happy pollen-gathering is endangered on a global scale by colony collapse. The nectar they transform into sweet, sweet honey, and all the along-the-way pollinating of our apple, cherry, and fig trees, is threatened! Search “pollinator problems” on the web and you will find the first two pages of results full of stats on our domesticated bee friends and how to help them. A little recap for those not up on the buzz:
Honeybees are struggling and yet so many wild pollinators also exist — and are also threatened by the same factors — and the decline they are facing is truly devastating. “Pollinating animals are critically important to the maintenance of virtually all terrestrial ecosystems, yet the population status of most pollinating species often goes unnoticed. Butterflies, moths, bats, birds, bees, beetles, flies, ants, and wasps assist almost all flowering plants in their reproduction, helping them to develop the seeds, foliage, nuts, and fruits that ensure the survival of innumerable wildlife and human populations worldwide” (Winter, 2006, p. 46). Our wild pollinators rely on our natural spaces being maintained and kept poison-free. The wild bees, birds, bats, beetles, flies, and butterflies need our help!
“It is imperative that we take immediate steps to help pollinator populations thrive. The beauty of the situation is that by supporting pollinators’ need for habitat, we support our own needs for food and support diversity in the natural world.” (Pollinator PartnershipTM & NAPPC, n.d., p. 4)
And that’s where my proposal comes into play. Every site from that little web search mentioned above recommends that the average citizen can help by growing some kind of butterfly (or pollinator) garden — yes, let’s all be doing this! There are infinite resources for starting one, keeping it (and other garden areas) pesticide-free, and everyday choices we can make to protect and support local pollinators. If you are also from the Pacific Northwest, here are a few of my favorites:
If you are anywhere in the US or Canada, you can get advice based on your ecoregion:
Inspired by an article on Monarch butterfly populations in Washington state (here), I was struck by how this beautiful creature needed one particular plant, milkweed, and required a connected supply of it along its famous blank mile migratory journey. The importance of citizen scientist observations and involvement was also stressed. Imagine if we had a way of tracking and connecting all of the citizen gardens that help our pollinators, and encouraged and informed more to join in this effort, so that maybe we could establish a “pathway” upon which our flying friends could be nourished, breed, and travel safely. My innovation builds on the “butterfly garden” model and addresses habitat fragmentation by bringing in data collection and information dispersal through QR codes. With this kind of data and the coordinated proposed MakerEd workshops, community creativity is encouraged and citizens are empowered to make actionable change. How much more inspiring is it to know your individual, hands-on efforts can verifiably be part of a bigger picture solution?
While initially targeted at citizens in the Pacific Northwest, this project is easily adaptable to any community around the world that wants to tackle pollinator protection. The full proposal is laid out in a scientific conference format:
May we all do small things from our hearts to create big change in our world.
References:
McGrath, B. M. (2019, February 11). Global insect decline may see “plague of pests.” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47198576
NC1173. (2019, May 29). NC1173: Sustainable Solutions to Problems Affecting Bee Health — NIMSS. NIMSS. https://www.nimss.org/projects/view/mrp/outline/18589
Pollinator PartnershipTM & NAPPC. (n.d.). Selecting Plants for Pollinators: A Regional Guide for Farmers, Land Managers, and Gardeners In the Ecological Region of the Pacific Lowland Mixed Forest Province Including the States of: Oregon and Washington. https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/pdfs/PacificLowlandrx8.pdf
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2020, October 29). Pollinators | U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. https://www.fws.gov/Pollinators/Index.html
Washington State Department of Agriculture. (2018, April). Managed Pollinator Protection Plan. https://agr.wa.gov/getmedia/819f8d22-37b1-484d-a522-31f60875f9c9/101-681managedpollinatorprotectionplan.pdf
Winter, K. (2006). Partners for Pollinators: The Conservation of Pollinating Species. ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN, XXXI(2). https://www.fws.gov/Pollinators/pdfs/ES_Bulletin_07-2006_46&47.pdf
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. (n.d.). Pollinator Conservation Resources: Pacific Northwest Region | Xerces Society. Xerces. Retrieved June 10, 2021, from http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center/pnw
