The District encourages pollinator conservation by helping residents grow vibrant pollinator habitat on their land. Read more on our Planting for Pollinators and Pacific Northwest Urban Meadowscaping pages.
From 2016 to 2018, we led a Community Science Pollinator Monitoring Program to learn more about pollinator habitat and diversity in our area. By engaging members of the community, we also sought to increase public awareness and understanding of pollinators by fostering pollinator ambassadors.
Community scientists learn bee ID at Xerces Society training
For the duration of the project, we gathered a small team of dedicated volunteers to attend in-depth trainings provided by The Xerces Society. The trainings followed the Maritime Northwest Citizen Science Monitoring Guide for Native Bees & Butterflies, and covered basic pollinator conservation, identification, and monitoring methods. Teams of volunteers were assigned to monitor several District pollinator habitat planting projects at least three times over the summer. The data gathered by community science teams helped develop more effective pollinator habitat projects.
In 2016, we monitored 21 projects with the help of 13 Community Scientists. They observed a total of 778 individual pollinators representing 21 different groups.
In 2017, we partnered with Oregon State University Extension’s Oregon Master Naturalist Program to more effectively recruit and support volunteers. We had 22 Community Scientists monitor 33 projects. We were able to begin monitoring earlier in the spring thanks to the ten volunteers who decided to return from the previous year.
In 2018, 16 Community Scientists monitored 21 projects and observed 1,368 total pollinators and 22 types of pollinators.
Learn more about the program findings in the final report.
You can also learn more about other pollinator conservation work we do by listening to this PolliNation podcast episode featuring our Conservationist and Education Coordinator, Laura Taylor who coordinates this program. For more information, contact Laura at laura@wmswcd.org or 503.238.4775, ext. 112.