Education Spotlight
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By Dr. Ann Fleener, Director of Education
id you know that every third bite of food you take is there because of a pollinator? Additionally, the monarch population has declined by about 90% in recent years. While that statistic is staggering it’s not too late! There are many things we can do to prevent further decline of pollinator populations and to even encourage regrowth of the population. At the Gardens we’re partnering with many other organizations around the city this year to focus on these important creatures. That’s why this year has been dubbed The Year of the Pollinator in Oklahoma City. Already this year we’ve done some behindthe-scenes work with other organizations and also hosted an event that focused, in part, on pollinators: • In January: We joined with the National Wildlife Foundation and around 25 other organizations for a day of considering how to save the Monarch. We’re continuing our work with them in these efforts. • In February: We hosted a Pollinator Meet & Greet for organizations around the city who were making an effort to protect and attract pollinators. At this Meet & Greet, individuals who might never have met were able to discuss their efforts, and in many cases, form partnerships to produce events together, promote existing events, and educate one another.
• In March: We hosted the 16th Annual Oklahoma Gardening School and this year focused on the Prairie Garden, a garden that is very pollinator friendly. One of our speakers, Marilyn Stewart, spoke about plants to attract pollinators and other steps you can take to attract and protect them. UPCOMING EVENTS THIS YEAR April • Cocktails and Conversation with Mike McGrath: Only You Can Protect Your Native Bees • Earth Day Birthday Celebration June •National Pollinator Week, June 20-26 ~ Beautiful Butterflies ~ Pollinator Workshop ~ Monarch Exhibit Sneak Peak and Celebration September • Pollinator Garden Tour • Monarch Festival at the OKC Zoo Look for these events in our upcoming calendar! We hope to see you this spring and the rest of 2016 for all the exciting happenings!
Did you know that every third bite of food you take is there because of a pollinator? -Ann Fleener, PhD
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