The Helen Schuler Nature Centre (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Pollinators in the spotlight at Helen Schuler Nature Centre

Aug 31, 2019 | 9:02 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – There’s a new exhibit at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre that’s putting the focus on different types of pollinators.

Program coordinator Jessica Deacon-Rogers said the exhibit shines the spotlight on non-bee pollinators, as the general thought when one hears “pollinators” is a honeybee.

The idea came from a past exhibit focused on native bumblebees. Deacon-Rogers said they found that people did not know much about native be pollinators and non-bee pollinators, and they wanted to create awareness about other types of pollinators.

“Things like moths and butterflies are really important pollinators locally – native bee species like bumblebees, sweat bees and mining bees are types of bees that many people forget that are also extremely important for pollination locally,” she explained.

She added that ants and beetles are also pollinators that some forget about. She said the exhibit showcases how you can create a pleasant habitat for non-bee and native bee pollinators in your yard.

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Tips include leaving small areas of your yard that have plant debris untouched.

“So, leaving some leaves over the winter for those insects to (cover) over winter underneath, having some loose soil in your garden that some of those insects would need to burrow in as part of their life cycle or maybe to spend the winter in.”

She added you can also make sure to have native plants in your yard for all types of pollinators.

“Without pollinators of any type, we wouldn’t have a lot of the food that we eat every day from the grocery store, so we wouldn’t have a lot of our different kinds of fruits, some vegetables require pollinators like tomatoes and things like that,” Deacon-Rogers said.

She stressed the importance of pollination and said without pollinators, we would actually have a lot less food globally than there currently is.

She added there is a global crisis with much fewer pollinators in the world than there used to be for a wide range of reasons.

“Some of it is loss of habitat, some of it is loss of food sources and it’s really important in urban areas like a waste and recycling centre, but also in urban backyards to be able to create habitat and homes for those insects so that we still have them in our community and they’re still providing those pollinations services that we need in order to get food,” she said.

The exhibit is open to the public, and Deacon-Rogers said the Helen Schuler Nature Centre accepts donations. The showcase will be open every day, except for Mondays starting in September.

Deacon-Rogers said the plan is for the exhibit to be on until mid-October.