GUELPH – Bees, butterflies and other essential pollinating insects will benefit from projects recently funded through Pollination Guelph’s Community Grants Program.
Thirty-one applications for funding were received and a total of $10,000 was awarded to 16 non-profit organizations located in Guelph and Wellington County:
– Bird Safe Guelph & the Sustainability Office at the University of Guelph
– Ecole Fred Hamilton
– Everdale Environmental Learning Centre
– Food from Home-Food for Home
– Guelph Black Heritage Society
– Guelph Horticultural Society
– Guelph Humane Society
– Guelph Tool Library
– Artists Lisa Hirmer and Christina Kingsbury
– The Julien Project
– St. George’s Park Neighbourhood Group
– Trees for Guelph
– Trout Unlimited: Speed Valley Chapter
– Taylor Kerekes Graduate Research Student
– Westminster Woods Mutual User Committee
– Yorklands Green Hub
Most projects involve plantings that will establish or increase pollinator habitat.
In many cases, the projects also include educational activities that teach about pollinators and pollination and engage adults and/or children as planting volunteers.
Funded projects are in diverse settings including recreational trails, public parks, community gardens, storm water management ponds, and landscaping around buildings.
Through partnerships with local non-profit organizations, Pollination Guelph aims to make the inclusion of habitat for pollinators a routine component of any planting project designed to restore natural areas, grow food, beautify a garden or landscape an institutional/commercial site.
For example, the partnership with Everdale Farm will enable the inclusion of pollinator habitat in the development of a food forest of fruit and nut trees.
The grant to Trout Unlimited will ensure shrubs and trees that support pollinators can be included in a creek-bank planting of trees and shrubs designed to restore water quality in the Hanlon Creek.
A grant to the Guelph Horticultural Society will add pollinator habitat to the much-used Riverside Park.
A garden designed to support moths, to be located on the grounds of Ignatius Jesuit Centre, will be a novel addition to pollinator habitat in Guelph.
In addition to pollinator habitat creation and conservation and public education, Pollination Guelph’s mission includes supporting research.
Funds were allotted to assist graduate student Taylor Kerekes with a study of bumblebees in the Guelph area.
Given the on-going challenges presented by Covid 19, grant recipients will have until the end of 2022 to complete their projects and submit their final reports, organizers say.
The Community Grants Program was established in 2019 by Pollination Guelph to leverage their financial resources and foster an increase in pollinator habitat through collaboration with non-profit community groups interested in developing and maintaining plantings that support pollinating insects.
As funds permit, Pollination Guelph aims to offer grants annually.
More information is available at www.pollinationguelph.ca.
