Protecting our Pollinators
Pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are vital to
healthy ecosystems and play a critical role in Ontario’s environment.
Pollinators are under increasing stress due to:
• reduced habitat and poor nutrition •
disease and pests
• exposure to pesticides •
extreme weather and climate change
The Township of Tiny's 'Protecting our Pollinators' Project will benefit pollinators like bees and butterflies by creating and enhancing existing gardens through the Township of Tiny. The Pollinator team has planted wildflowers to increase the biodiversity of flowers and creating more pollinator habitat.
Look for the new wildflower meadows in Toanche Park, Lafontaine Park, Perkinsfield Park, Stott Park and along the Tiny Trail on County Rd 6 at Concession 6 and Concession 4.
We are installing butterfly houses and bee houses in our parks. Learn more about them here!
What are Pollinators?
Pollinators are any insect or animal that moves pollen from
one plant to another. Here in the Township of Tiny, we have many different
pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds! We rely on pollinators to move
pollen around to fertilize our plants to get fruits, vegetables and seeds.
Most pollinators use nectar from the flowers as a source of
food. Honeybees store the nectar and that’s why we are able to get honey. Other
pollinators like bumblebees, masonbees and butterflies eat the nectar as they
go and do not store it.
Learn more from our Pollinators Factsheet
How you can help!
- Plant native flowers for the pollinators in your garden
- Get free wildflower seeds from the 'Protecting our Pollinators' booth at outreach events
- Reduce your pesticide use
- Hang a bee or butterfly house
- Enjoy and respect nature
Pollinator Friendly Gardens
Follow these tips for a beautiful pollinator friendly garden
- Find an area with full to partial sun
- Plant native flowers as much as possible
- Find plants with different bloom times
- Group like species together
- Use different colours and sizes
Learn more about Pollinator Friendly Gardens
Biweekly Newsletter
To share our activities and progress with the community, we
have created a series of biweekly newsletters.
Here are our past publications:
Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4
About the Project
How it all started
Paige, an elementary student and Tiny resident, sent a letter to Mayor George Cornell regarding her concerns about declining bee populations and planting more pollinator friendly flowers in the Township. This led to the Township successfully applying and receiving an Ontario150 Partnership Program grant through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
About the Project
The Pollinator team consists of four post-secondary students and one project coordinator. This project will benefit pollinators like bees and butterflies by creating and enhancing existing gardens through the Township of Tiny.
The Pollinator team will be attending outreach events across North Simcoe to promote the importance of pollinators and how to help them!
The team will also be completing land stewardship by:
- Creating 2000m2 of new pollinator gardens in the Township of Tiny.
- Enhancing 500m2 of existing flowerbeds for pollinators in the Township of Tiny.
- Installing butterfly houses and bee houses for hibernation and nesting habitat.
- Installing interpretive signage around the Township of Tiny to share information with residents and teach people about pollinator habitat once the gardens are completed.
Additional Resources
This program is made possible through the Ontario150
Partnership Program grant through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport
