VANCOUVER — For National Pollinator Week (June 22 to 28), the David Suzuki Foundation’s Butterflyway Project invites B.C. citizen scientists to help identify — and protect — local butterfly species.
Everyone can take part in the foundation’s BIMBY (Butterflies in my backyard) project. District of North Vancouver volunteer Butterflyway Ranger Stephen Deedes-Vincke leads the initiative. People can submit butterfly photos to iNaturalist, a free app that identifies species.
Since early March, 86 new Butterflyway Rangers have joined the project from Vancouver, Richmond, the District of North Vancouver, Burnaby, South Surrey and West Vancouver. More than 200 Lower Mainland Butterflyway Rangers have participated since 2017.
Rangers also work with Tara Moreau, associate director of sustainability and community programs at the UBC Botanical Garden. Moreau helps them analyze butterfly species and the plants they depend on.
“Monitoring local species and understanding their abundance over time is essential to supporting biodiversity and managing our landscapes in a changing climate,” Moreau said.
June is also National Indigenous History Month. Through the rest of summer, B.C. Rangers will work on Indigenous pollinator plant gardens. In fall, their plantings and stories will be compiled into an illustrated map.
Métis herbalist and educator Lori Snyder joined B.C.-based Butterflyway activities in 2019 and has been integral to the Indigenous pollinator plant map initiative. Snyder will host the Stanley Park Ecology Centre’s Backyard Pollinator webinar on June 23.
Selina Pope is Master Gardener for Riley Park in Vancouver’s Little Mountain neighbourhood. Pope joined the Butterflyway Project this season and has been sharing knowledge on native pollinator plants and food gardening. Pope hosts Riley Park garden tours throughout the summer. The rich foliage changes every week, so each tour is a unique experience.
Anyone can visit Butterflyway plantings across the Lower Mainland.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Winnie Hwo, B.C. Butterflyway Project Lead, winnie@davidsuzuki.org, 778-866-6371
About:
The David Suzuki Foundation (davidsuzuki.org) is a leading Canadian environmental non-profit organization, collaborating with all people in Canada, including government and business, to conserve the environment and find solutions that will create a sustainable Canada through evidence-based research, public engagement and policy work. The Foundation operates in English and French, with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
The Butterflyway Project is a citizen-led movement that’s bringing nature home to neighbourhoods throughout Canada, one butterfly-friendly planting at a time. It began in five Canadian cities in 2017. Over the past three years, the David Suzuki Foundation has recruited and trained 599 Butterflyway Rangers. They’ve connected with neighbours, schools, city agencies, businesses and community groups. To date, they’ve helped:
- Get 28,908 butterfly-friendly wildflowers into the ground.
- Create 754 pollinator patches.
- Grow Butterflyways in nine communities.