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Buzz Flash Hive Mind

Pollination with a purpose. Lindsay Street Park

Lindsay Street Park has had quite a transformation. This is the first park in English Avenue, a historic Atlanta neighborhood which is currently undergoing a large number of innovative community projects to revitalize the area. The renovation of the park was led by the Conservation Fund, with help from partners Trees Atlanta, Park Pride,  Atlanta Botanical Gardens, members of the English Avenue Community, and many other organizations and volunteers.

However this park is so much more than a pollinator garden, it’s a park with a purpose. Lindsay Street Park functions as an important place for the local community to gather and appreciate nature, in a neighborhood that is devoid of friendly green space. The park also serves to combat storm water runoff, and mitigate water pollution, issues that have been prevalent in the aging neighborhood.

Community members and project collaborators have been quick to comment on the importance of the Lindsay Street Park restoration, and the clear benefits it provides  to the English Avenue neighborhood. Greening Youth Foundation’s Whitney Jaye remarks that “we need green space and community input , to improve mental, physical and emotional health”.  Tony Torrence founder and CEO of the Atlanta Community Improvement Association  has also commented on the history of the neighborhood, the importance of the parks restoration, and its link to the local peoples culture and identity. Torrence remarks, “People used to be baptized in this creek, and now it is polluted”.

The park  aims to mitigate the amount of storm water runoff that reaches the Proctor Creek Watershed through rain garden plantings, implementation of a bioswale, and decreasing the amount of impervious surfaces present in the community.

The Lindsay Street Park success story hinges on the commitment of dedicated partners, and participation by the local community members, to build a truly exceptional green space that will benefit both pollinators and humans!

 

 

Photo L: Tony Torrence displaying a piece of history; a brick found on site made at the Chattahoochee Brick Company which often used forced convict labour to produce over 200,000 bricks a day. Images courtesy of Whitney Flanagan, Dr. Jennifer Cruse Sanders

Photo R: Dr. Jennifer Cruse Sanders from the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Greening Youth Foundation interns and employees Whitney Jaye, Alagia Felix, Micheal Hendrix, Cristha  Edwards, Idalis Boyd, and Jataysia Daniels plant milkweed in Lindsay Street Park’s pollinator garden. Images courtesy of Whitney Flanagan, Dr. Jennifer Cruse Sanders

 

Co-blogged by GAPP + Jataysia Daniels, Greening Youth Foundation & Atlanta Botanical Garden Conservation Intern!

 

 

 

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Buzz Flash

Pollinator Garden Grant. Deadline October 15th.

The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program, is offering funding for schools, nature centers, and other non-profit agencies. Projects should focus on the “enhancement and development of an appreciation for nature using native plants”

Funding deadline for this project is October 15th, so check out there application here and see if your pollinator garden project meets the requirements.

This grant is perfect for schools who have a committed space for native out planting, and a plan to use the garden in their curriculum.

Keep you ears and eyes open for more grants, to help your pollinator project come alive!

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Buzz Flash

More Than Just Honeybees!

When people think of pollinators, they generally think of bees, and when people think of bees they typically think of honeybees! This is because they are the most well-known and most studied species of bee. However in the Unites States alone there are over 5000 species of native bees that help pollinate crops and wildflowers.

It is true that both native and introduced species of bees do the lion’s share of pollination duties. Along with butterflies, birds, flies, beetles, bats and others, they are crucial to the pollinator landscape.

This is why Nature, an international journal of science has produced a special free access supplement named Nature Outlook: Bees. This feature includes discussions on neonicotinoid pesticide uses and problems, a feature on honeybee behaviors and life cycles and an interesting story on a biological-inspired design involving bee flight and aerodynamics.

To read the articles featured in this supplement click here.