What will we do and how will we do it?

WHAT WILL WE  DO?

The GAPP program will make a significant positive difference for pollinators and the human communities in which they live. Its main goals are to:

1.  Educate and inform about pollinator conservation.

2. Cultivate the metro Atlanta community to value, promote, and support pollinator conservation research, citizen science projects, and pollinator habitat restoration. This will include, but is not limited to, involvement by residential neighborhoods, schools, colleges and universities, local businesses, nature centers, houses of worship, and parks.

3. Develop clear guidelines for pollinator-friendly habitat design and installation, and also restoration of abandoned or endangered sites. An emphasis will be put on developing pollinator gardens at metro Atlanta schools.

4. Foster a pollinator conservation network in the metro Atlanta area via an interactive pollinator garden map.

HOW WILL WE DO IT?

1.Use the website to facilitate education through direct web content and indirect supplemental materials.

Direct web content will provide information on pollination, the importance of native pollinators, and the conservation issues behind their decline.   Indirect web content will  provide links to other important web sites that contain source material such as media kits, lesson plans, and classroom kits.

2.  Cultivate a conservation-focused Atlanta, starting with community involvement in the residential sector, including an emphasis on schools.

Metro Atlanta is a neighborhood-centric city, with distinct districts unofficially defined by characteristics that reflect the area. Most Atlantans will agree that residential loyalty is fierce, and residents tend to migrate to locales that best fit their lifestyles.

Consequently, neighborhood-centric Atlanta, is the PERFECT city to foster community involvement in a conservation project.

This will compliment popular projects such as neighborhood festivals (Grant Park Summer Shade Festival, East Atlanta Strut), community food gardens (Kirkwood and Oakhurst), and community based aid/volunteer groups.

We aim to develop community-run pollinator gardens in metro Atlanta neighborhoods, and promote the inclusion of pollinator-friendly species in community or food gardens.

GAPP is also committed to the creation of a conservation community by involving educators to teach young children, and students of all ages, about pollination conservation.  A major goal is to engage students through hands-on habitat-building programs. With this idea in mind, direct website content will provide educational tools and  links (see below) for funding sources. Interaction with the online mapping device will help connect local schools.

3. Provide direct web content on all aspects of pollinator gardens, including: Ideas for design and installation, information on native pollinator-friendly plant species, gardening through the seasons, invasive species removal, and pollinator identification. Links to funding sources and garden kits will assist interested school groups.

4.  The interactive map will aid communication among GAPP participants, facilitate a framework for mapping Atlanta’s green spaces, and help link individual pollinator garden participants with each other to create a pollinator conservation network.