Celebrating pollinators this week & every week
Happy Pollinator Week! Started by Pollinator Partnership, National Pollinator Week (June 20-26) is an annual event honoring the world’s pollinators. It’s a great time to learn more about them, celebrate their contributions, and participate in conservation efforts.
One place to start is by getting your 2022 Pollinator Week Toolkit. In it, you’ll find ideas for celebrating – such as hosting a pollinator-themed meal or screening a pollinator film – and taking action to protect pollinators – such as planting habitat in your backyard using native plants. You’ll also find activities for kids to do at home over the summer.
Pollinator Week is a good kickoff to supporting pollinator conservation year-round. To get inspired, watch the film Pollinators Under Pressure narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, see Louie Schwartzberg capture the hidden beauty of pollination in his film Wings of Life, or follow wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn as he films more than 60 species of bees in the PBS documentary My Garden of a Thousand Bees.
Learn about ways to help pollinators in your own backyard with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation’s free four-part “Bring Back the Pollinators” webinar series starting June 30, 2022, and get additional information about bringing back pollinators on their website.
The Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources also provides great resources to help you create a pollinator-friendly yard, including their Planting for Pollinators Habitat Guide and pollinator garden templates. For examples of what other Minnesota residents have done, take a free tour of residential native plant gardens this summer with Wild Ones Prairie Edge or explore the White Bear Lake interactive pollinator map of pollinator plants on public and private property.
Enjoy an active summer by pairing your fitness goals with efforts to support monarch butterflies: Join the Monarch Joint Venture’s Miles for Monarchs program. Run, walk, bike, hike, swim, or paddle while promoting monarch conservation, and register to track your mileage individually or with a team. You can learn more about monarchs in the Monarch Joint Venture’s free monthly webinar series. Celebrate monarchs at the Monarch Festival in Columbia Heights August 17 or the Minneapolis Monarch Festival September 10.
If you live in Minnesota or are visiting this summer, participate in a free community science pollinator count with the Pollinator Friendly Alliance July 16 or August 13 at Pine Point Park in Stillwater. Great River Greening has several capture and release pollinator events around the Twin Cities in July and August. And if you’re interested in helping with habitat restoration projects, the Lower Phalen Creek Project has a series of habitat restoration events this summer and fall on Tuesdays and Saturdays at Wakán Tipi/Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.
Also, mark your calendar for the Haulin’ Pollen 5K and the 2022 Pollinator Festival at Lake Phalen August 7.
The Minnesota Bumble Bee Atlas is also looking for volunteers through October to learn more about the distribution of native bees in Minnesota. Learn more about participating in this introductory video and sign up if you’re interested.
Thank you for whatever ways you’re celebrating Pollinator Week and/or supporting pollinators! Everyone can play a role in helping to protect these important creatures.