Pollinator Protection Resource List
Pollinators are critical to survival of life as we know it. Not just an environmental novelty, they are at the root of agricultural success. Without pollinators such as butterflies, bees, birds, bats and other flying creatures the plant world suffers. Since the pollinator world is in danger, so is the ability to produce and sustain agricultural systems that provide food for humans.
This is by far a limited list as there are so many great organizations working hard to educate and support pollinator survival but this should get you started! Download a free .pdf of the below information.
Vermont Organizations
Bee The Change https://www.beethechangehoney.com
A Vermont-based organization. We believe there is an opportunity in the unused space in solar fields. Non-native honey bees are important pollinators, but it is our native pollinators- those butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bees and other insects moving pollen from plant to plant- that provide a vital and sustainable reproductive pathway for many of the fruits, vegetables, nuts, and plants we consume.
Most solar fields are covered with stone or planted with turf grass. We feel that this is a missed opportunity. Bee The Change places a diverse array of plantings in and around the solar field, with the goal of supporting a diverse array of pollinators.
Pollinator Pathways http://www.seedsofselfreliance.org
Since 2007, Seeds of Self Reliance has been working to promote ecologically based agriculture and gardening as a means to self-reliance and as a healing force for our society and environment. Our advisement, education and donation of seeds, plants and tools has supported 20 school and community gardens here in Vermont and in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Today, we are refocusing efforts to address pollinator CARE – Conservation, Awareness, Research, Education.
National Organizations
Bee City USA https://www.beecityusa.org
Bee City USA fosters ongoing dialogue in urban areas to raise awareness of the role pollinators play in our communities and what each of us can do to provide them with healthy habitat.
Border Free Bees http://borderfreebees.com
Border Free Bees is a long-term public art initiative headed by Dr. Cameron Cartiere and Associate Professor Nancy Holmes, in collaboration with numerous strategic partners. The initiative’s mission includes:
The Monarch Joint Venture is a national partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration.
The Pollination Ecology Lab at SFU https://www.sfu.ca/people/eelle.html
Pollinator Partnership https://pollinator.org
Pollinator Partnership's mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research.
Save Our Monarchs https://www.saveourmonarchs.org
Milkweed seeds and habitat protection. (Seeds are actually from Pollinator Pathways here in Vermont but the org also produces great resource materials.)
Xerces Society https://xerces.org
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. We take our name from the now extinct Xerces Blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche xerces), the first butterfly known to go extinct in North America as a result of human activities.
Pollinator Gardening
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge from the National Pollinator Garden Network http://millionpollinatorgardens.org
The National Pollinator Garden Network (NPGN) is a partnership between conservation organizations, gardening groups, volunteer civic associations and participating federal agencies to inspire people and organizations to create more pollinator habitats. The nine founding organizations launched NPGN in June 2015 with 26 inaugural partners and has grown to approximately 50 national network partners in less than two years.
Native Plant and Butterfly Finderhttps://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/
When it comes to attracting beautiful butterflies and birds to your yard or community, the best thing you can do is use native plants. By planting natives, you restore the health and function of your local ecosystem. This website will help you find the best native plants specifically for your area that attract butterflies and moths and the birds that feed on their caterpillars, based on the scientific research of Dr. Douglas Tallamy.
There’s An App For That
BeeSmart Pollinator Garden https://pollinator.org/bee-smart-app
With the Bee Smart®Pollinator Gardener’s easy user interface, browse through a database of nearly 1,000 native plants. Filter your plants by what pollinators you want to attract, light and soil requirements, bloom color, and plant type. This is an excellent plant reference to attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles, bats, and other pollinators to the garden, farm, school and every landscape.
GrowIt! The Plant Community https://www.growitmobile.com
Since 2017, GrowIt! has been an active supporter each May in Garden for Wildlife Month to help show the GrowIt!community and all of North America how to have a beautiful garden that is also healthy habitat for wildlife. The National Wildlife Federation encourages its wildlife gardeners to contribute the to the #Garden4Wildlife community with pictures of native plants, habitat features, and wildlife.
Insight Citizen Sciencehttps://insightcitizenscience.com
Learn about pollinator research and conservation. It’s totally cool. No internet connection needed.
For Educators
Bee Smart https://pollinator.org/bee-smart
Create a pollinator garden at your school, grades 3-6. The Kit can be approached in 3 ways:
Pollinator Holiday https://pollinator.org/pollinator-week
National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them.
Pollinators and Faith
North American Pollinator Protection Campaign NAPPC Faith Task Force https://pollinator.org/nappc
A collaborative body of over 140 organizations that work for the protection of pollinators across Mexico, Canada and the United States.
Plant Conservation
The Native Plant Finder https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/
The Native Plant Finder launched through a joint partnership among the United States Forest Service, the National Wildlife Federation, and the University of Delaware’s Professor Doug Tallamy to help gardeners, conservationists, and other wildlife professionals access the best native plants for attracting butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) to host their young (caterpillars). Caterpillars are a critically important food source for birds to raise their young. This native plant database includes 4,000 woody and herbaceous plants nationwide and allows visitors to retrieve a list of the top 10 plants that attract the most Lepidoptera for their county and state.
Pollinator Health Conservation from the Obama Administration https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/Pollinator%20Health%20Strategy%202015.pdf
“NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PROMOTE THE HEALTH OF HONEY BEES AND OTHER POLLINATORS”
United Plant Savers https://unitedplantsavers.org
United Plant Savers’ mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.
Bee The Change https://www.beethechangehoney.com
A Vermont-based organization. We believe there is an opportunity in the unused space in solar fields. Non-native honey bees are important pollinators, but it is our native pollinators- those butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bees and other insects moving pollen from plant to plant- that provide a vital and sustainable reproductive pathway for many of the fruits, vegetables, nuts, and plants we consume.
Most solar fields are covered with stone or planted with turf grass. We feel that this is a missed opportunity. Bee The Change places a diverse array of plantings in and around the solar field, with the goal of supporting a diverse array of pollinators.
Pollinator Pathways http://www.seedsofselfreliance.org
Since 2007, Seeds of Self Reliance has been working to promote ecologically based agriculture and gardening as a means to self-reliance and as a healing force for our society and environment. Our advisement, education and donation of seeds, plants and tools has supported 20 school and community gardens here in Vermont and in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Today, we are refocusing efforts to address pollinator CARE – Conservation, Awareness, Research, Education.
National Organizations
Bee City USA https://www.beecityusa.org
Bee City USA fosters ongoing dialogue in urban areas to raise awareness of the role pollinators play in our communities and what each of us can do to provide them with healthy habitat.
Border Free Bees http://borderfreebees.com
Border Free Bees is a long-term public art initiative headed by Dr. Cameron Cartiere and Associate Professor Nancy Holmes, in collaboration with numerous strategic partners. The initiative’s mission includes:
- Raising awareness of the plight of wild pollinators
- Empowering communities to actively engage in solutions for habitat loss
- Transforming under-utilized urban sites into aesthetically pleasing and scientifically viable pollinator pastures.
The Monarch Joint Venture is a national partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration.
The Pollination Ecology Lab at SFU https://www.sfu.ca/people/eelle.html
Pollinator Partnership https://pollinator.org
Pollinator Partnership's mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research.
Save Our Monarchs https://www.saveourmonarchs.org
Milkweed seeds and habitat protection. (Seeds are actually from Pollinator Pathways here in Vermont but the org also produces great resource materials.)
Xerces Society https://xerces.org
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. We take our name from the now extinct Xerces Blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche xerces), the first butterfly known to go extinct in North America as a result of human activities.
Pollinator Gardening
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge from the National Pollinator Garden Network http://millionpollinatorgardens.org
The National Pollinator Garden Network (NPGN) is a partnership between conservation organizations, gardening groups, volunteer civic associations and participating federal agencies to inspire people and organizations to create more pollinator habitats. The nine founding organizations launched NPGN in June 2015 with 26 inaugural partners and has grown to approximately 50 national network partners in less than two years.
Native Plant and Butterfly Finderhttps://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/
When it comes to attracting beautiful butterflies and birds to your yard or community, the best thing you can do is use native plants. By planting natives, you restore the health and function of your local ecosystem. This website will help you find the best native plants specifically for your area that attract butterflies and moths and the birds that feed on their caterpillars, based on the scientific research of Dr. Douglas Tallamy.
There’s An App For That
BeeSmart Pollinator Garden https://pollinator.org/bee-smart-app
With the Bee Smart®Pollinator Gardener’s easy user interface, browse through a database of nearly 1,000 native plants. Filter your plants by what pollinators you want to attract, light and soil requirements, bloom color, and plant type. This is an excellent plant reference to attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles, bats, and other pollinators to the garden, farm, school and every landscape.
GrowIt! The Plant Community https://www.growitmobile.com
Since 2017, GrowIt! has been an active supporter each May in Garden for Wildlife Month to help show the GrowIt!community and all of North America how to have a beautiful garden that is also healthy habitat for wildlife. The National Wildlife Federation encourages its wildlife gardeners to contribute the to the #Garden4Wildlife community with pictures of native plants, habitat features, and wildlife.
Insight Citizen Sciencehttps://insightcitizenscience.com
Learn about pollinator research and conservation. It’s totally cool. No internet connection needed.
For Educators
Bee Smart https://pollinator.org/bee-smart
Create a pollinator garden at your school, grades 3-6. The Kit can be approached in 3 ways:
- Using school land to create or augment a garden habitat
- Using other demonstration areas to create or visit garden habitat
- Using only in-classroom lessons and on-line experiences without a garden
- Each Kit has components that can be used at school, at home, and online to maximize the learning experience. Although we know a diverse group of schools will be using this Kit, we have included the California School Standards at the end of each Lesson Plan as a point of reference. There will also be recommendations that will help connect community resources to the outdoor classroom. Each Kit will include teacher incentives from our partner, Burt’s Bees, to reward teachers for helping students become more bee-conscious.
Pollinator Holiday https://pollinator.org/pollinator-week
National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them.
Pollinators and Faith
North American Pollinator Protection Campaign NAPPC Faith Task Force https://pollinator.org/nappc
A collaborative body of over 140 organizations that work for the protection of pollinators across Mexico, Canada and the United States.
Plant Conservation
The Native Plant Finder https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/
The Native Plant Finder launched through a joint partnership among the United States Forest Service, the National Wildlife Federation, and the University of Delaware’s Professor Doug Tallamy to help gardeners, conservationists, and other wildlife professionals access the best native plants for attracting butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) to host their young (caterpillars). Caterpillars are a critically important food source for birds to raise their young. This native plant database includes 4,000 woody and herbaceous plants nationwide and allows visitors to retrieve a list of the top 10 plants that attract the most Lepidoptera for their county and state.
Pollinator Health Conservation from the Obama Administration https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/Pollinator%20Health%20Strategy%202015.pdf
“NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PROMOTE THE HEALTH OF HONEY BEES AND OTHER POLLINATORS”
United Plant Savers https://unitedplantsavers.org
United Plant Savers’ mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.