Are you a Brampton resident 18 years or older who is passionate about flowers, bees and other pollinator insects? Then you may be interested in applying to become a Butterflyway Ranger for 2023.
The David Suzuki Foundation is offering free online training on native plants, pollinators, gardening and community organizing. Local Brampton Rangers will join a country-wide network of volunteers who help spread their pollinator and native plant love at community events, daycare centres, schools and workplaces, as well as over garden fences and on sidewalks with passers-by. Together they planted about 22,000 native wildflowers and grasses and 2,400 native trees and shrubs in 562 gardens, and completed 17 new Butterflyways, which are collections of 12 or more habitat gardens in close proximity.
Brampton has already been designated as a BEE City by BEE City Canada. Through guidance from the Grow Green Environmental Master Plan, the City is currently leading several programs and initiatives that support pollinator health and habitat, including the Don’t Mow, Let it Grow initiative that converts select areas of turfed public land into meadows and pollinator gardens.
Members of the public can take the Pollinator Protection Pledge by:
- Adding native plants to your garden
- Choosing plants that will flower at different times of the year
- Reducing the use of pesticides and other garden chemicals
- Choosing to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible to protect plant habitat
- Keeping leaves and other plant litter in the yard to protect pollinator habitat and increase organics and biodiversity in the soil. Leave leaf-blowers in the garage.
- Help spread the word about the importance of pollinators and maintaining pollinator habitat
If you are looking for things you can do to help the environment in your neighbourhood consider taking the Pollinator Pledge and or join the David Suzuki Foundation as a Butterflyway Ranger for 2023.