The National Wildlife Federation

Community Profile

Pledge Status

Active

Pledge Date

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Program Year

2023

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Action Item Report

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City of Pickering

Pickering , ON

Kevin Ashe

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Over the past several years, Pickering has developed and implemented a number of initiatives to support the Monarch butterfly and other important pollinators such as birds, bats and bees. Through participation in the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, Pickering will continue to help create Monarch habitat, raise community awareness about the importance of these species, and educate residents on roles they can play. Through collaboration we also endeavor to encourage other Canadian cities to do the same.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2023

Communications and Convening

  • Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.
  • Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters , other long-standing and influential community leaders) to support monarch butterfly conservation.
  • Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
  • Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
  • Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar producing plants in community gardens.
  • Launch or maintain an outdoor education program(s) (e.g., at schools, after-school programs, community centers and groups) that builds awareness and creates habitat by engaging students, educators, and the community in planting native milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA Schoolyard Habitats program and Monarch Mission curriculum).
  • Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
  • Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.
  • Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.