by Renate Sander-Regier and Sandy Garland
Because we receive funding from OPIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group), we submit an annual report to this group describing our activities. We thought you might be interested in reading it.
The bilingual Wild Pollinator Partners-Partenaires des pollinisateurs sauvages (WPP-PPS) network continues to grow and reach out to new groups and partners. We bring together people who are interested in wild pollinators, concerned about their resilience and survival, and motivated to help. We seek to raise awareness, share information and resources, offer learning opportunities and events, support pollinator habitat protection and creation, as well as encourage appropriate, responsible action.
With support from OPIRG-GRIPO, the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, and the UOttawa Forrest Lab, WPP-PPS engaged in the following activities:
- raising awareness and reaching out to new audiences and interested parties through
- our website
- social media (Facebook and Twitter – @WildPollinators)
- newsletters (approximately 4 a year)
- participation in events such as the City of Ottawa’s wildlife speaker series
- offering educational activities:
- presentation on bees (May) and Monarchs (July)
- workshops on building bee boxes
- wild pollinator talks to community gardening groups
- carrying out a survey to assess needs and strengths of our network members
- holding our first annual colloquium on March 3, 2019 at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, bringing together 30 organizations and individuals who are involved in pollinator conservation in our region
- donating plants and providing information on funding, volunteer resources, and sources of native plants to various local pollinator initiatives
- developing fact sheets and tools to help people with various aspects of wild pollinator habitat development
- maintaining pollinator habitat, removing invasive species, adding signage, and surveying pollinators in uOttawa collective gardening sites and other green spaces
- offering volunteer placements to uOttawa students through the university’s experiential learning program
Our first annual colloquium was a big success with network members meeting face to face and sharing information. Photo by Sonia Cirka.
In the 2019-2020 season, WPP-PPS plans to
- continue and expand on the above activities: talks and walks on bees, wasps, and flower flies; workshops on building mason bee boxes, collecting seeds, and growing native plants; early spring colloquium to share information and highlight local activities
- establish discussion/working groups focused on particular aspects of wild pollinator support
- develop French materials, and enhance our capacity to work in French
- make efforts to reach out to interested individuals and parties on the Quebec side of the river
- involve more members of the uOttawa community and neighbourhood (students, employees, neighbouring residences and institutions)
- make pollinator-friendly landscaping recommendations to uOttawa administration
- contribute to initiatives seeking to make the greater national capital region pollinator-friendly
- take advantage of other opportunities as they arise