Wildflowers for Pollinators: Citizen Science Meadowscaping Project (W4P) supports the conservation of native plants (wildflowers) and native pollinators (bees, butterflies), and addresses the continued loss of meadow habitat in the West Kootenay. Meadowscaping – the creation and enhancement of meadow habitat through a coordinated planting of native wildflower seeds – can result in direct conservation benefits. This program aims to create a variety of meadowscaped patches throughout the Kootenay Lake region, through citizen science training, the creation of stewardship partnerships and agreements, and one-on-one assistance with wildflower species selection, meadow site preparation, and planting.
Join us for W4P and actively contribute to science–focused and community-engaged conservation and get outside and connect with the land and nature that will have meaningful and enduring benefits for many beings!
About the W4P Project
Wildflowers for Pollinators: Citizen Science Meadowscaping Project (W4P) is an exciting new international program developed in collaboration with the Idaho Panhandle Bees to Bears Climate Adaptation Project (B2B) and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y), and in association with KinSeed, our local ecological gardening consulting and native plant seed company. W4P is funded by Kootenay Lake Local Conservation Fund (Kootenay Conservation Program).
Pollinator meadows are a symphony of interrelationships: a diversity of native plants attracting and supporting a diversity of wild pollinators throughout the season and, in turn, producing and sustaining more native wildflowers. The Wildflower Seed Library Citizen Science approach, adopted from the B2B Initiative and adapted for use in this program, will create a repository of locally adapted (“ecotypic”) seeds that can be saved, and distributed for regional meadow making and ecological restoration projects. You can assist us build this Seed Library by becoming a Citizen Scientist and receive training in local plant identification and seed collection.
Through this W4P program a Kootenay Lake Wildflower Seed Library will be established and wildflower meadows will be created or enhanced! We will train local residents to become citizen scientists and receive training in the identification, collection, cleaning, and storage of native wildflower seeds over the summer. These seeds will be properly cleaned and stored, and many will be used to enhance or create new meadows in the Kootenay Lake region. In the meadow making process – sometimes referred to as “meadowscaping” – we will provide assistance with site assessment and preparation of the meadow site in the spring/early summer, and with planting with locally collected seeds in the fall. Meadow sites will be selected throughout the Kootenay Lake region and will be a combination of both conservation lands and private properties.
Improving habitat diversity within the landscape, …[has] been shown to ameliorate pollinator loss, boost pollinator numbers and improve ecosystem services. … appropriate local, national and global actions are needed to mitigate [the threats to native pollinators].
– WWF 2018 Living Planet Report
Project Funders and Partners
