Bayside Monarch Project (2019 – $1,450)
Stephanie Mietz – Executive Director, Jacoby Creek Land Trust
Jacoby Creek Land Trust and Bayside Pride, Inc. are partnering on the Bayside Monarch Project with the hope of bringing our community together for the purpose of growing native nectar plants and fostering citizen science in support of monarch butterflies. The project goals are two-fold: (1) Environmental education and protection – monarchs: Monarch populations are in significant decline. The Bayside Monarch Project will support monarch populations through a community effort to plant native nectar plants. Local nonprofits, schools, and community gardeners have committed to this project including the Redwood Chapter of the California Native Plant Society; the Jacoby Creek School Garden; the Jacoby Creek Land Trust Community Garden; and faculty from Humboldt State University;
(2) Community-building in the Jacoby Creek Watershed: The iconic beauty of the monarch and the fact that it is now so rarely seen in Bayside, makes it ideal as the center attraction for Bayside residents and community groups to come together in its support. This goal is to strengthen community relationships in Bayside by encouraging every organization and household to grow native nectar plants to feed monarch butterflies as well as benefit other native pollinators. Through citizen science, all ages learning together, neighborhood potlucks, Monarch, Pollinator and Native Plant Movie Nights, and neighbor-to-neighbor information exchange, this goal is basic grassroots organizing.
The project’s expected outcomes are: (1) native nectar forbs, shrubs and trees planted in community and private gardens throughout Bayside; (2) increased sightings of monarchs and other pollinators; (3) engaged citizen scientists contributing observations and data to a larger effort; (4) a community committed to restoring monarch populations and to each other. When this project is complete, we anticipate a vibrant community with the ability to work together on common concerns. The pilot project will be completed in sixteen months. The larger effort will be ongoing.
A conservation grant from Sequoia Park Zoo will fund a work study student for the 2019-2020 school year to implement community outreach and programming; help purchase seeds/starts; and help cover the cost to support local community programming including educational speakers, monarch film nights, and planting workshops.