Regional group aims to boost pollinator habitat

ORLEANS -- A collaboration of nine Cape organizations has launched a regional initiative – Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod, designed to increase pollinator-friendly habitats and food sources for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinating insects and wildlife across Cape Cod.

The founding partners of PPCC include the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, Chatham Conservation Foundation, Garden Club of Harwich, Master Gardeners of Cape Cod, Nauset Garden Club, Orleans Conservation Trust, Orleans Improvement Association, Orleans Pond Coalition, and the Town of Orleans.

Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod was proposed by Jeanne Berdik of the Nauset Garden Club Outreach Committee.

“The club was looking for a community project where we might collaborate with other like-minded organizations to have significant impact on the region. We had heard about Pollinator Pathway initiatives and a little homework led us to the Pollinator Pathway Northeast website and their vast network of localities that have joined the effort to create contiguous pollinator friendly landscapes,” she said.

“My first call was to Kevin Galligan, chairman of the Orleans Select Board and president of the Orleans Conservation Trust, who was very receptive on behalf of both organizations. Before long we had a steering committee representing nine regional organizations.”

Pollinators are essential to our ecosystems. As many as 200,000 species of animals pollinate plants around the world. About 1,000 of them, including birds, bats and small mammals, are vertebrates. The majority are invertebrates and include flies, beetle, butterflies, moths and bees.

At least 35 percent of the food we eat depends on bees for pollination. But pollinator populations are in decline, with over 50 percent decrease in numbers in recent years. Pathogens, pesticides, habitat loss and fragmentation, and a lack of genetic diversity are among the causes, PPCC notes.

To recognize the importance of pollinators, Massachusetts and other states have declared state-wide pollinator weeks – this year it takes place from June 21 to 27 (pollinator.org/pollinator-week).

Two local events sponsored by members of PPCC are planned.

The Orleans Conservation Trust will hold its third annual plant sale on Saturday, June 19,at 203 South Orleans Road, Orleans.  The theme this year is native pollinator plants, so this is your chance to purchase some. A handout explaining the mission of Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod with an illustrated list of native pollinator plants and ways to get involved will be available.

Also, the Orleans Improvement Association will host its annual garden tour on Saturday, June 26 (see story this page).

The Pollinator Pathway was established by ecological activist Sarah Bergman in Seattle, in 2007. The initiative has since spread across North America.

Everyone can help protect the critical Cape Cod environment by planting more native trees, shrubs, and flowers and reducing the use of pesticides. You can add your own pollinator-friendly garden to the Pathway by registering it on pollinator-pathway.org/towns/cape-cod.