The Hudson Valley Pollinator Project is a collaboration between Orange Environment, Inc. and the Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery.

While we all love our lawns, they don’t do the job for pollinators. Manicured grass lawns have no more food value for them than a parking lot.  Over the last few decades, the monarch butterfly population has declined over 90%. Unfortunately, the monarch is not alone. Scientists are reporting dramatic declines in insect populations. Some studies estimate loss in insect populations between 75-90% over the last 25 years.

The dramatic decline in the insect population can be summed up in one word… STARVATION! Insects feed on nectar and pollen from flowers and host plants provide food for caterpillars. 

As human activities increase, insect food and habitats are destroyed by developments, roads, landscapes, farms and more. Meadows, wetlands, and forests become fragmented or eliminated entirely. As a result, insect food sources have become scarce. In addition, herbicides (Roundup) have eliminated milkweed from much of the Midwest and are a major contributor to the decline of the monarch butterfly.

No Milkweed = No Monarch Butterflies 

The use of pesticides and herbicides in conventional agriculture, horticulture, and landscaping kill innumerable beneficial insects and the native plants they depend on. For instance, milkweed – the host plant for the monarch – is the only plant where monarchs will lay their eggs, and the only food source for the monarch caterpillar. To understand how insect decline affects all of us, we must first understand the process. 

Insects are central to the food supply of all living things. They provide food (they are eaten) for all other species. Plants use chlorophyll (the green stuff in leaves) and sunlight to make sugar. This process is known as photosynthesis. Plants are the foundation of the food web. Every creature depends on plants for their existence. Only plants can take the sun’s energy and convert it into food. If that is not remarkable enough, the oxygen that we require to live is also produced by plants.

E.O. Wilson, the famous biologist and ecologist, makes the point that plants are not optional. Nothing can live without them. 

The Key Point 

Insects eat the plants and convert the plants’ sugar to protein. It is this transfer of energy from sunlight to plant and then to insect that the remainder of the food web depends on. 

No Insects = No Birds 

Ninety-six percent of the bird species in North America depend on insects for food. 

Unfortunately, bird populations are also dramatically declining in North America. Since 1970, the North American bird population has dropped nearly 30% or about 3 billion birds gone! 

No Insects = Fewer Fish 

Fish also depend on insects for protein and when insect populations crash fish populations and size can also be affected. In freshwater streams, mayfly populations are a key part of a fish’s diet. Mayflies are referred to as the “canary in the coalmine” because they indicate the quality of the water and health of the ecosystem. For example, in the western part of Lake Erie an 84% reduction in Mayflies occurred from 2015 to 2019. As every fisherman knows, this decline in a major food resource can result in fewer and smaller fish. 

No Insects = No Animals (including humans) 

Insects, especially bees, pollinate about 75% of our food crops. Without insects there would be no fruits or vegetables for us. There would be no flowering plants, no alfalfa for animal grazing, with subsequent declines in available proteins. 

CAN WE PREVENT MASS POLLINATOR EXTINCTION?
CAN WE SAVE THE MONARCH? 

YES, TOGETHER WE CAN!

The Hudson Valley Pollinator Project’s purpose is to: 

• Grow local native plants from seed. Native plants provide nutritious meals for insects facing dramatic decreases in population for lack of adequate food.  
• Develop and distribute beautiful native plant garden kits with plants that provide food and shelter for pollinators such as butterflies and bees. 
• Establish demonstration gardens at Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery and give away free milkweed plants to plant in your gardens. 
• Feed the insects and prevent starvation! 
• Each one of us can do our part to save the monarch and other pollinators. Our responsibility is simple – establish a variety of native plant gardens that serve as a safe environment for them to lay their eggs, provide food for caterpillars, and offer a selection of nectar flowers for adult monarchs and other pollinators. 
• While only a small portion of land is preserved as National and State Parks, the vast majority of land in the U.S.is privately owned. For instance, about 86% of land east of the Mississippi is in private ownership. 
• The key is that we must dedicate a portion of our private landscapes and lawns to pollinator-friendly plants. 
• Then it will be possible to reverse the decline of insects while also enriching the beauty of our yards and communities. And, if enough of us convert portions of our lawns to flowering native plants it would become what Doug Tallamy refers to as a “Home Grown National Park.” 
• Planting milkweed and other nectar-producing plants in our yards along the path of the monarch’s awe-inspiring journey from Mexico to Canada and back again will provide the food necessary for their continued survival. 
• Monarchs will alight – in our yards – on the milkweeds to lay their eggs, forage for nectar on a variety of flowers we plant for them, and build up strength for their remarkable journey. Your yard, and my yard, and all our yards together have the potential to save the monarch and one of the greatest migration stories on the planet. 

• IF YOU PLANT IT – THEY WILL COME 

• Here are several perennial plants native to the Hudson Valley that are all good nectar sources for monarchs as well as other pollinators:

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