Celebrate National Pollinator Week, June 15 - 21, 2015!

The Broward Lotus Sangha Invites you to Celebrate

National Pollinator Week

June 15 - 21, 2015

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Insects such as bees, butterflies, moths and beetles, as well as birds, bats and other small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food we eat. Unfortunately scientific evidence points to the fact that many pollinators are in trouble. Some species have seen a 90% decline in their populations over the last decade. In the United States alone, bees have declined from 4.5 million in 1945, to about 2 million. Without the actions of pollinators our food supply, agricultural economies, and surrounding landscapes would collapse. The celebration of Pollinator Week started in 2007, when the U.S. Senate designated National Pollinator Week in Resolution 580 (http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/pdfs/pollinatorweekres580.pdf) to educate the public and help bring attention to the plight of pollinators worldwide.

The good news is that we can help make a difference by taking some simple steps.

Are you providing good habitat for pollinators in your home (balcony, window box, or yard)? Below are some simple things you can do at home to encourage pollinator diversity and abundance:

HOW WE CAN HELP:

• Plant a Pollinator Garden (http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/YourHelp.html#garden)

• Build a Bee Block (http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/YourHelp.html#bee)

• Avoid or Limit Pesticide Use (http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/YourHelp.html#pesticide)

• Plant Native Larval Host Plants and the Butterflies They Attract (http://browardbutterflies.org/Native%20Larval%20Host%20Plants%20and%20the%20Butterflies%20They%20Attract.pdf)

• Certify Your Garden! Yard Certification Programs (http://www.browardbutterflies.org/links#yardcert)

• Learn more about pollinators by visiting these interactive links: The Broward County Butterfly Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (http://browardbutterflies.org/), the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) (http://www.naba.org/), The Xerces Society (http://www.xerces.org/), Fish & Wildlife Pollinators Page

• Watch Dr. Marla Spivak's TED talk (http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/12/the-big-bee-bummer-marla-spivak-at-tedglobal-2013/), explaining the role of bees in our ecosystem and food supply, the dramatic drop in bee populations and what we can do to help bees and other pollinators: “We need to behave more like a bee society, where each of our small actions can contribute to a grand solution,” says Spivak. “Let planting (pesticide free) flowers be the driver of large-scale change.”

• Download a variety of resources about pollinators and what you can do to help pollinators at The Pollinator Partnership (http://www.pollinator.org)

• Learn how to help the Monarch Butterflies (http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/monarchbutterfly/) that live right here in South Florida

• Take Action: Let's campaign to have a wide variety of flowers planted in community gardens and on roadsides, and to have flower borders planted around schools, housing developments, malls, and farms.

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• Friends of the Earth BeeAction Campaign (http://www.foe.org/beeaction):

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Peace is every step we take on this beautiful Earth

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