In 2017, the Illinois nature center I work with achieved something wonderful.
It teamed up with the local mayor to build a pollinator garden for insect populations and to inspire a city to help monarch butterflies. You can read about it here.
In good eco news, mayors and other local and tribal government chief executives are taking action all over the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to help save the monarch butterfly, an iconic species whose populations have declined by 90% in the last 20 years. Through the National Wildlife Federation (NWF)’s Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, U.S. cities, municipalities, and other communities are committing to create habitat for the monarch butterfly and pollinators and to educate citizens about how they can make a difference at home and in their community.
This morning I wrote to my mayor, Greenville’s Mayor Knox White, to ask him to consider taking the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge.
I’ve posted my letter below. Please feel free to adapt it and send it to your local mayor.
Pollinator habitats are essential to help insects – who help us to have food – thrive as they create new ecosystems for pollinators to feed and lay their eggs.
Did you write to your mayor? Let me know in the comments below!
Dear Mayor White,
I am writing as a resident of Greenville to ask that you consider signing the National Wildlife Federation (NWF)’s Mayor’s Monarch Pledge.
The initiative encourages mayors across the USA, Mexico, and Canada to commit to creating habitat for the monarch butterfly and to educate citizens about how they can make a difference at home and in their community.
In the past two decades, the number of monarchs has dropped from a billion to 30 million largely because of habitat destruction. Monarch caterpillars feed and lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed but the colorful flower is rapidly disappearing from the countryside due to the overuse of herbicides and decline of native prairie.
It would be wonderful if you could lead by example to create a pollinator garden
Pollinators such as butterflies, bees, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, birds and bats have an important role in our eco-systems and are essential for crops, food, clean air, and wildlife. They add 217 billion dollars to the global economy yet somewhere between 75% and 95% of all flowering plants on the earth need help with pollination, according to non-profit organization Pollinator Partnership
Best wishes,
Charlotte Ward