Categories
Buzz Flash

Discovery day at the Jimmy Carter Library

Come and join the GAPP team and other partners on Saturday June 18th from 9:00am to 1:00pm for a fun day of hands-on Monarch butterfly and pollinator activities at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Sponsored by the Rosalyn Carter Butterfly Trail, The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the discovery day will feature booths for children and adults to learn more about pollinator conservation.
Partners for the event include Monarchs across Georgia, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Emory University and many many more who plan to have exciting activities and information for participants.
So come and enjoy this FREE event, interact with some of Georgia’s most dedicated pollinator conservationists and learn what we are doing to promote pollinator abundance and health in Georgia!
As an added bonus the Freeedom Farmers’ Market will also be attending and operating at the event, which features several native plant vendors! So if you missed all those native plant sales we blogged about at the beginning of this month, here is your chance to get some great natives for your pollinator garden!
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Categories
Buzz Flash

Why do bees matter?

The Greater Atlanta Pollinator Partnership (GAPP) was formed to directly address the issue of pollinator decline. Through promotion and development of pollinator friendly green spaces, GAPP provides a practical solution which directly impacts pollinator populations within Atlanta.

Watch this neat video by the UK Department for Environmental Food & Rural affairs readily available, that utilizes hand drawn images and time-lapse video to explain pollinator decline and pollinator conservation

Categories
Citizen GAPP

Native Georgia Milkweed Seeds

As the decline of pollinator populations continue, the risk for these insects and animals is becoming more and more apparent.  With this information becoming newsworthy, Environmental Education in Georgia has revealed that the Fernbank Science Center is now accepting milkweed seeds from those able to collect the seed pods from surrounding areas.  If citizens are able to collect and ship the milkweed seeds, those new plants will be put towards replenishing the habitats of vital pollinators.

The monarch overwintering sites located in Mexico have been reported to be at an all-time low during the winter of 2013.  One factor could be due to the upkeep of large farms where herbicides and pesticides kill milkweed in the United States, which monarchs require for reproduction.  As milkweeds are the only location monarchs will lay their eggs, and the only source of food for the larvae when they hatch, the preservation of milkweeds is very important.  Similarly, Georgia’s habitats are rare and not sufficient for large populations of monarch butterflies.  The citizen initiative to send in these milkweed seeds will help with native plants of Georgia in upcoming years.  The Fernbank Science Center is partnering on the project with Monarch Watch that will help propagate these native species.  Obtaining these seeds can revitalize the habitats of monarchs across Greater Atlanta and the outskirts of Georgia.

–Please visit this website to help you identify your Georgia Native Milkweed!

Here are a few tips, provided by Environmental Education in Georgia, for maximizing the benefit of your milkweed packaging.

milkweed_seeds-advice

If you, or anyone you know, could help with the collection of milkweed seeds in Georgia, the Fernbank Science Center ask that you include:

Your Name, Street Address, Email, Date, County, State where the seed was collected, and Species.

Send seeds to contact:

Trecia Neal, Fernbank Science Center, Milkweed Seeds, 156 Heaton Park Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

On behalf of the Monarchs of Georgia, The Fernbank Science Center, and Greater Atlanta Pollinator Partnership thank you for your assistance and participation!

For More Information, please visit these websites:

1) http://eeingeorgia.org

2) http://eeingeorgia.org/resource

3)  http://www.eealliance.org/pollinator-habitat-grant