THE BUTTERFLYWAY
& Other Citizen Science
LET'S BRING BACK THE BUGS
David Suzuki's Butterflyway Project
The Butterflyway Project is a volunteer-led movement that’s bringing nature home to neighbourhoods throughout Canada, one butterfly-friendly planting at a time.
The Butterflyway Project began in five Canadian cities in 2017. The mission was to plant native wildflowers in yards, schoolyards, streets and parks to support bees and butterflies. The goal was to establish local “Butterflyways” by planting at least a dozen pollinator patches in each neighbourhood or community.
Over the past four years, they've recruited and trained 1,008 Butterflyway Rangers from over 100 communities. They’ve connected with neighbours, schools, city agencies, businesses and community groups. To date, they’ve helped:
Get 54,000 butterfly-friendly wildflowers into the ground.
Create 1000+ pollinator patches.
Establish official Butterflyways in 15 communities.
The Butterflyway Project is based on our Homegrown National Park Project, an award-winning initiative project that created butterfly-friendly corridors in three Toronto neighbourhoods. In 2020, the Butterflyway Project received the Canadian Museum of Nature’s 2020 Nature Inspiration Award!
The Green Herons have helped inspire over 40 new pollinator patches in the Niagara Region since 2020 making The Niagara Butterflyway one of the 60 new communities recognized as official Butterflyway in 2021. Way to go Niagara!
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MORE INFORMATION
Pollinator Garden Websites
IN THE ZONE
Carolinian Canada is a network of leaders growing healthy landscapes for a green future in the Carolinian Zone, Canada’s extraordinary far south, in the spirit and practice of reconciliation. We connect science, community and business for healthy ecosystems and climate-smart neighbourhoods from Toronto to Windsor, Ontario.
Our cross-sector platforms connect 300 groups, 5,000 volunteers and 37,000 hectares to save local wildlife, water and our way of life; and support 14 UN Sustainable Development Goals. (2020)
ECOREGIONAL PLANTING GUIDES
Pollinator Partnership’s mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research.
Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. They also sustain our ecosystems and produce our natural resources by helping plants reproduce.
Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants – the very plants that
bring us countless fruits, vegetables, and nuts,
½ of the world’s oils, fibers and raw materials;
prevent soil erosion,
and increase carbon sequestration
This nearly invisible ecosystem service is a precious resource that requires attention and support - - and in disturbing evidence found around the globe, is increasingly in jeopardy. Pollinator Partnership (P2) urges you know how this system supports you, and how your actions can help support healthy and sustainable pollination.
BEE AND POLLINATOR PLANT LISTS
Free pollinator plant lists by biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author, Heather Holm. In addition to assisting with native bee research projects, she informs and educates audiences nationwide, through her writing and many presentations, about the fascinating world of native pollinators and beneficial insects, and the native plant communities that support them.
GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE
CWF’s Gardening for Wildlife program encourages Canadians to get outside and transform home, school and community gardens into wildlife-friendly habitat. Participants are supported with resources and information on making their gardens suitable for wildlife, can contribute to citizen science when they document garden visitors through iNaturalist and have the support of an online community where they can learn and share. Those who certify their wildlife-friendly gardens receive official recognition from CWF and will motivate others to take action, as they are added to a map of certified properties.
MISSION MONARCH
Mission Monarch, being run by the Space for Life Insectarium, is a citizen science program documenting the monarch’s reproductive success. The program is part of an international research and education effort aimed at saving the migratory populations of this endangered species.
POLLINATOR.ORG
Pollinator Partnership Canada (P2C) is a registered not-for-profit organization dedicated exclusively to the protection and promotion of pollinators and their ecosystems through conservation, education, and research.
TURTLE GUARDIANS
Turtle Guardians work to save turtles and their habitats. We connect kids, people and communities with nature, which inspires them to take action and heal the world! A program of the Land Between charity #805849916RR0001
