Pollinators' Paradise

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Pollinators' Paradise Updates (2012/2013)

Planning for Pollinators Project

EYA will be teaming up this summer with The Real Estate Foundation in Vancouver to carry out a plan to promote habitat for native bees in the city. Native and honeybees have declined by 30% in Canada. Bees are keystone species to indicate the health of our natural areas, and we need to play a part in making our cities pollinator-friendly places to be. As the most effective pollinators, native bees are important not only to biodiversity, but they play a critical role in performing pollination; a service which contributes to food for other wildlife such as birds as well as Vancouver’s local food production.

The EYA seeks to find out what the bees are up to in our urban spaces with a team of citizen scientists as part of our Pollinator Assessment Squad. These dedicated volunteers will be conducting surveys in corridors of the city. This information will be important in figuring out suitable areas for building and preserving pollinator habitat in the future. Local communities will also help create pollinator habitat with EYA this summer by hosting “bee pasture” plantings in many areas around Vancouver. We can promote planning our urban spaces to be more bee-friendly in Vancouver and our gardens, natural areas, and parks will all benefit! To learn more about joining the Pollinator Assessment Squad, click here.

Pollinator Partnership

We are excited about our new pollinator partnership with Joe Wasp, a local company that specializes in the removal of honeybee nests, honeybee swarms, bumblebee nests, and wasp nests, offering an earth friendly alternative to pest control. Joe will be providing bumblebee colonies for our pollinator initiatives, installing pollinator habitat on local farms, parks, and golf courses.

Past Pollinator Conservation Programs

Pollinators' Paradise (2010-2012)

The Environmental Youth Alliance’s Pollinators' Paradise project that has taken place in the past year has been an overwhelming success. With funding from, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Vancity, EYA was able to facilitate a very comprehensive community pollinator engagement campaign.

1) Growing beekeepers

We held our annual beekeeping course for eight youth to learn the art and science of sustainable hive management. The program began in earnest in May with our mentors Sheilagh Mckenna and Brian Campbell teaching the youth (all women!) the core fundamentals of bee biology, life cycle, and pollination. The group had the opportunity to interact with the hives on a bi-monthly basis and gain valuable experience in sustainable hive management. In August, a shared community event with some local artists brought attention to the bees and the program. By the end of the four-month program, each of them gained the skill and confidence to be able to manage their own hives in the future.

2) Growing Bee-Friendly Farmers

We were fortunate to be able to partner with 9 local farms to help them establish native bee habitat on their properties. Habitat structures were built by high school students from Vantech and Britannia Secondary and the farmers were provided with mason bee cocoons to ‘seed’ their new condos. EYA then provided support and monitoring, helping the farmers improve their knowledge and farming practices to better support these crucial insects.

View Growing Bee-Friendly Farmers by EYA in a larger map

Park Pollinators' Paradise (2007-2009)

The Park Pollinators’ Paradise program, was an attempt to increase and enhance pollinator habitat across the City of Vancouver through the development of a volunteer mason bee stewardship program to establish bee shelters and associated foraging enhancement in public areas spanning the entire city - local parks, community gardens, engineering right of ways, streets, boulevards and private property. Public awareness and education was paramount to the success of the project, drawing attention to the essential ecological service native pollinators provide and the need for their conservation amid a decline of native pollinator populations across North America. Our larger vision is to see healthy, thriving, pollinator populations and to generate a respect and admiration for a group of insects that are so essential and deeply connected to our ecosystem, our economy, and our culture

We chose to focus our attention on the Blue Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria), a native bee species that can be used effectively in educational campaigns on this issue. They are non-aggressive, propagate easily and are extremely effective pollinators, particularly of fruit-bearing plants. Funded by Environment Canada's EcoAction Program, the initial phase had 100 volunteer 'bee stewards' establishing 100 mason bee 'condos' and relevant garden plantings primarily on private land, across the City of Vancouver. With the incredible interest in the project, we were unable to meet the demand and so sought funding to expand the project, focused on the public space element.

Our goal in the second phase was to spotlight public lands by establishing bee 'high rises' and associated habitat plantings (native plants and fruit trees) in 50 neighbourhood parks, with 'super lodges' in 3 high profile Vancouver parks (Stanley Park, Everett Crowley, and Jericho). Partnering with the Vancouver Park Board, this habitat was stewarded by volunteers participating in its Park Partners program, engaging the community in a hands-on activity that links issues of conservation, land use, and food. Signage adorns the sites, informing the public on the current dilemma facing pollinators and actions they can take to ameliorate the problem.

Through public lectures and media, Park Pollinators’ Paradise shared information with a large audience, encouraging the establishment of healthy pollinator populations on public and private land. A key message was that regardless of the size of the property, pollinator habitat can be created and enhanced, ensuring a diverse and fertile landscape.