Biodiversity Conservation: Enhancing Pollinator Habitat

This project aims to enhance the grasslands of Freshkills Park in Staten Island, New York City, over one year, with the goal of reintroducing the regal fritillary butterfly, which has seen its habitat decline significantly and requires focused conservation efforts to ensure its survival. Freshkills Park is recognized as potentially the only suitable area in New York for regal fritillaries, offering a blend of protected grasslands and accessible public viewing locations.

Program staff will modify the existing 1000-acre habitat to support the re-introduction of regal fritillaries by planting preferred host plants like native violets and nectaring plants like eastern milkweed. The community will be engaged through a new K-12 and college-level curriculum on regal fritillary butterflies coupled with extensive volunteer involvement in planting and invasive species removal.

Volunteers will lead planting and invasive species removal efforts, potentially earning coursework credits in biodiversity monitoring. The project aims to foster stewardship of natural areas and raise awareness about the vital role of pollinators in human society and biodiversity conservation, particularly in a community park that was once the world's largest landfill.

The goal of this project is to engage the community in critical monarch habitat expansion along 20 miles of the Salmon River corridor. The project site falls within the Salmon River Breaks Project Area, an 11,000-acre tract that has been treated with prescribed burns, mechanical thinning, and noxious weed removal for the last 13 years.

Salmon Valley Stewardship (SVS) volunteers will make and plant seedballs, which are essential to reseeding the rocky, steep terrain and shallow soils of the river valley, in addition to hand-pulling invasive plants and planting milkweed and other native pollinator-friendly plants along the 20-mile corridor. This work will directly improve 1,625 acres of pollinator habitat—about twice the area of Central Park in New York City.

In addition, the project provides a unique service-learning opportunity with the Salmon High School natural resources class, who will travel to the project sites and spend time with SVS staff learning about plant and pollinator identification and helping with habitat restoration through seedball application. Funding will also support four college internship positions and reach approximately 150 individuals through education and outreach opportunities.

This project seeks to improve biodiversity and protect native pollinator species in Kentucky's Bluegrass Region through strategic invasive species management and habitat restoration efforts at Blue Licks State Nature Preserve, Short's Goldenrod State Nature Preserve, and Kentucky River Palisades/Tom Dorman State Nature Preserves.

The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) will use prescribed burns, mechanical removal, and chemical treatment to target invasive species across approximately 560 acres, creating or restoring habitat patches with diverse native plants crucial for pollinator food and shelter. These efforts are complemented by educational and outreach initiatives, including workshops at institutions like the University of Kentucky, aimed at engaging hundreds of participants in native flora and fauna education, invasive species eradication, and pollinator propagation.

Volunteer training sessions at state parks, including four hands-on workshops, will equip approximately 100 volunteers and Preserve staff with essential skills for habitat restoration and invasive species management. These activities aim to empower community members, park staff, and conservation professionals to sustainably manage pollinator habitats, contributing to the long-term conservation of biodiversity in the region.

The Urban Prairies Project (UPP) is a collaborative partnership that engages local communities to improve the quality, quantity, and connectivity of pollinator habitat on public open spaces. During the 2023-2024 project season, UPP will engage over 150 volunteers to plant native species including milkweed, reseed restoration areas, remove noxious weeds, and collect native plant seed for propagation on public lands in the Denver metro area, impacting over 150 different pollinator species across more than 3,000 acres. 

UPP will offer several public outreach events—including three seasonal BioBlitz events—that will raise awareness about pollinators, help families connect with nature, and be inspired to become environmental stewards. UPP will also be installing three demonstration gardens that will become learning spaces where guests can discover how to increase habitat at home and observe pollinators in action. 

Olmsted Parks Conservancy works to combat invasive species, human impact, encroachment, and other challenges that jeopardize vital habitats within the city, with a particular focus on historically disinvested neighborhoods.  

Funding from the 2023 Biodiversity Conservation Grant will enhance and preserve more than 1,000 habitat acres across the Louisville parks system, including Chickasaw Park, where volunteers will install a “Butterfly and Bee” pollinator meadow to honor the park’s most famous user: Muhammad Ali, who trained there in his youth. 

A network of specially trained park stewards, as well as hundreds of local students, corporate volunteers, and park neighbors, will host several community engagement activities, including guided hikes, educational tours, two BioBlitz events, and community science data collection with Kentucky State University and the University of Louisville. 

The San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust, Inc., protects and expands riparian habitats to create a wildlife corridor in California’s Central Valley. This project will augment funds for the River Parkway Trust’s larger-scale habitat enhancement projects to support understory plantings and seeding at closely connected San Joaquin River Parkway properties, where woody shrubs can provide protection and nectar sources for Monarch butterflies and other pollinators.  

The River Parkway Trust will hold at least three Parkway Pollinator Corridor Project volunteer workdays at each of the three largest and publicly accessible properties with habitat enhancement projects: Jensen River Ranch, Fresno River West, and Sycamore Island. The seeding and planting volunteer events will be held monthly in the fall and early winter of 2023 to align with the region’s optimal seeding and planting timeline. Each volunteer will receive a seed ball party favor to encourage the community to act independently to support pollinators in the Central Valley. 

The Catalina Island Conservancy maintains a healthy balance between protecting Catalina's unique environment and serving the needs of a diverse public—approximately 700,000 annual visitors from Los Angeles and greater Southern California, as well as the 4,000 permanent residents of the city of Avalon.

This grant project will allow for critically needed management of invasive plant species so that native pollinator species such as the Avalon Hairstreak butterfly, Catalina orange streak butterfly, cuckoo bee, and Allen’s hummingbird can not only survive, but thrive. In addition, the Conservancy will oversee several programs aimed at educating and engaging both children and adults about the island’s native pollinators and the work required to maintain their habitat.

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is home to an award-winning horticulture department which, in addition to maintaining the Zoo’s expansive botanical garden, also serves neighboring communities by revitalizing parks and playgrounds with landscaping and pollinator gardens. Their Plant for Pollinators program shares this expertise with community members while encouraging them to create their own pollinator habitats, with over 2,400 gardens registered since 2019.

Through this grant project, the Cincinnati Zoo will spearhead the installation of a sustainable pollinator garden in the Avondale community—in which the Zoo is located—along with active input from residents throughout the process. This garden will be the first in a series of six “pocket parks” that will create a habitat for pollinators as well as provide healthy environments for the local community, where approximately 44% of the population live on or below the poverty level. The Cincinnati Zoo hopes to use this project as a model for other zoos and environmental organizations seeking to promote similar coexistence-themed conservation strategies in urban spaces.