With weather conditions finally breaking here in west central Ohio this past week, it presented an opportunity for the NB/NK Rotary Club to complete its first “Operation Pollination” plot planting of ~1.2 acres just outside both communities on CR66A.
With the assistance of the horticulture team from Crown Equipment Corporation we planted almost 15 lbs of seed across the plot. The seed was a special pollinator blend of native wildflowers, and grasses from a small family-based company in northeast Ohio.
Once established, the club intends to use the site for educational opportunities with local schools, FFA clubs, 4-H clubs as well as training of residents who are interested in creating their own small backyard pollinator plantings. This project also showcases how private/public partnerships can enhance the quality of life in the community.
The club sees this as not only adding to the growing effort to “pay it forward” for the environment, but also highlighting the historical beauty of the Ohio prairie in the process.
The Clubs Mission statement
“Operation Pollination recognizes the importance of pollinator habitat both restored and maintained on public and private lands. Through collaboration and outreach, an interconnected mosaic of pollinator habitat interspersed between public and private land will be developed to stabilize and/or increase populations of pollinator species throughout our project area.”
Project History
Rotary International President Jennifer Jones is spotlighting Operation Pollination as an important way of supporting the new 7th area of focus: Protecting the Environment. North America hosts one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world: a 3,000-mile journey that the monarch butterfly makes year after year from Canada through the United States and into Mexico. Operation Pollination is supporting an effort to bolster a vertical pollination garden along the migratory route and raise awareness by asking Rotarians to pledge to protect the crucially important pollinators. In July, the International Union for Conservation of Nature red-listed the migratory Monarch as endangered. This is a big problem because pollinators are essential to our food supply and are responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat.
As such, our Rotary District 6600 has joined in with others along the migration route (between Windsor, Ontario and Morelia, Mexico) to sign Operation Pollination Pollinator Resolutions. We are asking community members to consider joining in with Rotary District 6600 by signing a pledge to acknowledge and support operation pollination and environmental sustainability. This is a great opportunity to highlight what our community can do to support the environment, share project ideas, as we identify other environmental projects. We hope to build a network of projects and resources, as we collaborate to improve the health and wellbeing of the environment in our communities.
https://gglba.ohiostatebeekeepers.org/
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