Over the past 30 years, the world’s pollinators – birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and small mammals – have been declining at a disturbing rate.  Considering that our food crops rely on pollination, human existence is tied to that of the pollinators, making their decline as important to us as it is to them.  

According to the USDA, “our nation’s pollinator populations have suffered serious losses due to invasive pests and diseases, such as mites and viral and fungal pathogens, exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, loss of habitat, loss of species and genetic diversity, and changing climate.”  Many species of pollinators are now extremely rare or nearly extinct.  Albert Einstein once said that “if bees disappear, humans would have four years to live.”

To combat this life-threatening problem, Seattle artist Sarah Bergman began what she called a “pollinator pathway,” a one-mile-long, 12-foot wide corridor of pollinator-friendly native gardens to sustain pollinators.  The idea has spread, with way stations running from Maryland to Vermont, from Oregon to Ontario.  Roadsides, bike paths, private yards, public parks, churches, and business properties have been transformed from grass lawns into native wildflower gardens, each creating a link along the pollinators’ migratory chain.

In Granby, a project is underway to transform a town-owned fallow field into a major link along this chain.  Now named the Granby Wildflower Meadow, the 5-acre parcel, located along RT10/202 just south of the town center, is slated to be over-seeded with native flowering plants late this fall.  Plant plugs will be placed in the meadow to augment the seeds by anyone willing to help next Spring.