About us

Wild Pollinator Partners was started by two Fletcher Wildlife Garden volunteers, who saw a need for more information among the many people who want to help pollinators. Our aim is to connect those people – residents, teachers, researchers, community groups, organizations, and others who support pollinators in our region – and to share information, resources, and experience.

Through our web site and social media, we provide information about our local wild pollinators and why it is so important to protect them, and describe real projects that are aiming to conserve them. As we gather data, we publicize “best practices” for helping various pollinators, providing information about bee boxes, pollinator-friendly practices in your yard or park, best plants for native pollinators, and “profiles” of pollinators found locally.

Because we’re local, we also hold informal workshops, nature walks, and site visits to demonstration gardens. (See Upcoming activities)

We exchange lots of information and, when possible, plants and seeds.

If you’re interested in helping wild pollinators – bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and others — we hope you’ll join us here, on Facebook, and in person.

If you already have a pollinator garden or habitat, please let us know so we can add it to our site map. If you have knowledge to share, something that works in your garden, a great article you’ve read, a video about helping wild pollinators, a good resource book, please contact us and we’ll share the information in our network.

Why focus on wild pollinators?

The honeybee (Apis mellifera) – an introduced species that is intensively managed and distributed – has lots of support. Beekeepers, the honey industry, and agriculture and food ministries of government work on behalf of honeybees.

The many species of native bees and other wild pollinators are not so fortunate. Aside from a few iconic species such as Monarch butterflies, wild pollinators tend to be little-known, underappreciated, and often misunderstood. And they do not have many people speaking out for them.

We are pleased to see more people payting attention to the plight of wild pollinators and seeking to change that in the Eastern Ontario-Outaouais region.

Let’s continue to work together to make a difference!

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We thank the following supporters:

• Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) at Ottawa U for helping to fund our web site and outreach
• Fletcher Wildlife Garden for making its site available for workshops and other events
• University of Ottawa, Office of Campus Sustainability for offering space on campus for demonstration pollinator habitat
• The Forrest Lab, University of Ottawa, for providing expertise and learning materials
• Canadian Wildlife Federation for its demonstration gardens and learning resources