Pollinator Friendly Initiative Attracts Attention in Ulster County Towns
by
Rochelle Riservato
Town
of Olive resident Maraleen Manos-Jones is an environmentalist who has worked
with a non-profit for 15 years to plant over 6-million trees in and around the
Monarch butterflies’ overwintering habitats in Mexico. Wearing many hats, she
has a Masters in education, is a Master Gardner, a leading ethno-lepidopterist,
a citizen scientist, an artist and author of the book The Spirit of
Butterflies: Myth Magic & Art published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
What
Manos-Jones is now promoting is a Pollinator-Friendly Town Initiative, which is
not a law, but an initiative to encourage town citizens to sign a pledge which
can be seen at the Website pollinatorfriendlytowns.org.
After
her recent 11-minute presentation to the Town of Olive, the town has issued a
letter of enthusiastic support for this initiative. And more towns are not only
being having these presentations at their board meetings, but also inquiring
about the initiative on their own.
Manos-Jones
made a presentation to the Town of Woodstock on February 18, which she said, “I
believe Woodstock is a leader in environmental and sustainable attitudes and
actions, so I am hopeful they will also pass a resolution urging their citizens
to support this initiative. Woodstock as a pollinator friendly town adds luster
to an already illustrious reputation.”
Explaining
that the initiative is a personal choice and about each one taking
responsibility for the environment, she said, “It’s taking a beautiful action,
gardening, and creating green zones and inviting beauty into your lives and
hearts while saving pollinators which pollinate the food we eat. Without
pollinators, over 40-percent of our food supply will disappear. And we are on
the brink. We all must step up to the plate now. What are we waiting for, all
the pollinators to disappear and then what?”
It’s
a fact that widespread use of pesticides and toxins is literally killing all
living creatures and permeating to water systems. With 80-million pounds of
pesticides used on lawns in the United States each year, 85-percent of all
species are becoming extinct. It is also a major threat to human health as
these pesticides contain neuro-disrupters whose residue has been found in
93-percent of children aged 3 to 13 and in 96-percent of all fish. Making
matters more serious, GMO crops require widespread pesticide usage.
A recent petition cited that just one state along the monarchs'
migration route, Iowa, is reported to have lost 98-percent of its milkweed – a
primary food source for pollinating Monarchs. It also stated that Monsanto
products like Roundup dominate the agricultural market worldwide encouraging
factory farms to douse fields with gallons of herbicides, which affects the
entire ecosystem of these pollinators.
“Losing
these butterflies means wiping out insects, birds and small mammals that rely
on the monarch and its place in the food chain,” states Manos-Jones, adding, “We
can save our planet one garden at a time.”
Read
more about Manos-Jones’ work with raising, releasing and tagging butterflies
for over four decades; working with leading scientists, being the first woman
and second individual to spend two months climbing mountains to locate the
Monarch overwintering Mexican habitats in early 1977; and being the only person
to live among these butterflies in 1978 and 1979 at spiritofbutterflies.com.
View the guidelines and sign the pledge at pollinatorfriendlytowns.org.
Posted by Chris Hewitt
on 9:34 AM.
Filed under
Environment,
Feature,
gardening
.
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Thank you for this article and the pledge!