In order to help support declining pollinators like the iconic monarch butterfly, Iowa’s Blank Park Zoo has joined hands with local, regional and national organizations. The effort is meant to encourage Iowans to plant butterfly gardens.

The US Senate and Department of Agriculture started National Pollinator Week to disseminate information about the critical issue of declining pollinator populations and come up with actions to help save these vital species.

Pollinators are very important as more than one-third of our global food supply depends on them. More than $15 billion are alone added by honey bees in value to agricultural crops each year in the United States.

Gardeners will receive help from Blank Park Zoo’s pollinator conservation program Plant.Grow.Fly to plant a garden to attract and support these important pollinators.

“Once gardens are planted and hands are dirty, participants can register their garden with Plant.Grow.Fly. We send them a certificate and recognize their garden on the Zoo’s website. To date, we have 277 registered butterfly gardens, from across Iowa and the surrounding states”, said conservation manager, Jessie Lowry.

Senator Matthew McCoy said the importance of pollinators must not be trivialized. Blank Park Zoo's coalition is making a great effort to restore the habitat of pollinators in the state of Iowa.

Plant.Grow.Fly. is aiming to plant 500 gardens by the end of this year. Beth Waage of Polk County Conservation said that National Pollinator Week will be celebrated on June 21st with a Pollination Celebration at Easter Lake in and around Shelter No. 2. The celebration will take place from 1-4 pm.