Red Deer creates pollinator parks to attract bees, reduce cosmetic pesticides

As cities and town throughout Alberta look to reduce cosmetic pesticides andinvite more pollinators in, the City of Red Deer has gone one step further bycreatingfour pollinator parks.

"Thesesmallstepsact as a catalyst for improving ourcommunityas a whole and spurring on some similar changes and adaptations across the province and potentially across the nation," said Red Deerparks superintendentTrevorPoth.

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City Hall Park,SnellGardens, Bower Ponds andMaskepetoonPark are the locations designated by council.

Each site will provide habitat that is rich inpollen sources, along with interpretive access for the public. There will also besigns to describe thepark features and extra care will be takento protect and promote the pollinators at each location.

The city says it's all about encouraging and protecting the well-known pollinators likebats, birds and bees.

Using the parks as demonstration areas helps people understand the plight of pollinators and shows residentshow they can turn their own yards into an oasis for essential players in the ecosystem, Pothsays.

"When you look at your flower garden out in your backyardyou tend to see a lot of things crawling around in thereand, whether it's spiders or beetles or bugs, they're all spreading pollen around in your garden."

Insect baths

Poth sayspollinators need access to water andshade, as well assandy porous soils to create great habitats.

He says simple thingslike putting out a bowl of water, or a shallow bird bath with stones in it, can go a long way.

"The mostimportantthing is making sure you've got little rocks and stonesfor the pollinators to actually stand on to have a drink," he said.

"The last thing we needis a whole bunch of beetlesdrowningin your backyard, in your bird bath, when they're just trying to get a little sip of water."

He also encourages residents toensure there's a wide variety of flowering material toproducepollen and nectar, which are essential forpollinators.

There's a great dealof native material available that people can plant and that will flower throughout the year, Pothsays.

"It makes such a difference in times of drought and in times when we're not getting an awful lot of rain."

Global impact

The benefits of pollinator-friendly parks and yards go far beyond Red Deer, says Poth who points to significant decreases inpopulations and important plants.

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They also become vehicles tolook at pesticide programs to decide wherechemicals may beneeded and where they should becut back, he says.

It turned out Red Deer was not using neonicotinoids an ingredient linked to decreased pollinator populations in the designated areas, but the city used the experience as an educational opportunity to talk to residents and adjacent agricultural businesses "about certain pesticides they want to avoid and good pesticide practices."

"Seventy to80 per cent of our food sources rely on pollinators for protection, so by us doing these little things, increasing our habitat, offering pollen sources and then decreasing our pesticide use, we're certainlyable to contribute greatly to increasing these species and also offering some sustainability for us as a society, because we're awfully dependent on that 80 per cent of food."

Since the majority of land within municipalitiesis owned by private businessesand privateresidences,Poth hopesto transfer the city's experience andthelessons learned to really make a difference.

"Byhavingincreased production from an urban level, we're able to help our ruralneighboursout a little bit by having good pollinator habitat here, and then the pollinators will of course move on out into some of those native areas," he said.