In just three yr , 1,040,000 garden were registered with the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge ( MPGC ) involving an estimate eight million people , concentrated in the United States , and Canada with some in Mexico , and across the orb . From tiny K to public gardens , the million plus garden tote up up to a meshwork of about five million acres of enhanced or new pollinator habitat .
Pollinator Gardening Hot Spots , where high percentages of the local population registered garden , include : the desert southwest , Santa Fe , New Mexico , Prescott and Flagstaff , and the Phoenix - Mesa - Scottsdale , Arizona metro orbit . The Smoky Mountain neighborhood , which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee , contributed over 35,000 gardens . These areas , along with St. Louis , Missouri and others also support gamey bee tightness and variety . Research indicates that the impact of these small - scale pollinator gardens has added pregnant sustenance to pollinator copiousness and variety .
Metro areas with the highest figure of register gardens include Atlanta , Chicago , Miami - Ft . Lauderdale , Philadelphia - Camden , Washington DC , and New York City .
launch in June 2015 by the National Pollinator Garden internet ( NPGN ) , the goal of the MPGC was to make networks of garden to help salvage pollinator , which are creditworthy for 1 out of 3 food raciness we take each sidereal day . “ Together , through collaborative conservation we are bushel pollinator populations that provide the institution of our ecosystem and our food supply . ” said , Collin O’Mara , President and CEO of National Wildlife Federation . “ When we save wildlife , we save ourselves ” .
With 40 % of all invertebrate pollinator species – particularly bees and butterflies – at danger of extinction ( National Research Council , 2007 ) , NPGN responded as the largest pollinator preservation effort to enlist the horticultural and voluntary sectors in a major office — offer a bridge player - on way for citizens to restore and heighten pollinator home ground . Co - founding organisation : National Wildlife Federation ; Pollinator Partnership ; American Public Gardens Association ; AmericanHort ; National Gardening Association ; American Seed Trade Association ; National Gardening Bureau ; and KidsGardening.org , execute the doubling of the NPGN to over 50 conservation , garden trade , garden golf-club , and voluntary civic and federal partner .
Nancy L. Hargroves , president , National Garden Clubs , Inc. inaugural NPGN member , stated , “ Our 5000 club in almost every Department of State are proud to collaborate with the NPGN . The substantial increased awareness and action for pollinator was not limited to any one project , but combined , has a groovy total impact on the world . ”
“ Our collective efforts have execute big thing for bees , butterflies , and other pollinator species that diddle a critical office in our natural world , ” says Val Dolcini , president of the Pollinator Partnership . “ From raise our food supply to increasing the biodiversity of our environment , these hard - working pollinators postulate to be protected at all costs . By protect their life sentence , we ’re preserving ours . ”
An impingement report indicates the MPGC guide to a shift in consumer consciousness , and wider actions such as pro - pollinator assurance , promulgation and insurance . Since the campaign launch , 92 percent of garden centers have seen an growth in demand for pollinator - friendly plant and service and 86 percent are offering more pollinator - friendly works , service , and education . Craig Regelbrugge , senior frailty president of AmericanHort , applauds these efforts . “ Leaders in horticulture have stepped up to encounter consumer demand for pollinator friendly plants and to leave the necessary Department of Education about sustainable methods that patronise home ground . ”
Moving forwardThe 2019 call to action mechanism is designed to build on the momentum of Challenge in two ways :
“ The passion for pollinator is intelligibly apparent . Let ’s pass it on and promote the 35 million Americans who garden with flowers , to each put in one unexampled pollinator well-disposed plant per season each twelvemonth . guess the shift ! ” says Mary Phillips , National Wildlife Federation , NPGN coordinator .
For more information : millionpollinatorgardens.org
