The Pollinator Equity Project addresses the lack of native pollinator plants in our city and seeks to increase the number of pollinator plants in the local community. The University of Arizona’s Ecological Restoration Club’s (UAERC) project will create a pollinator-propagation area in the University’s Rincon Heights Community Garden (RHCG) and hopes to inspire communities to come together, learn about the environment, and ultimately have hands-on experiences with nature and neighbors.
This project will grow pollinator plants on this plot of land and distribute them to community members and neighborhoods in Tucson in collaboration with Tucson Clean and Beautiful, distribute student-created educational materials, and engage with community members.
The Campus Sustainability Fund is also supporting the Rincon Heights Garden’s extension of their irrigation system which will allow them to increase the number and diversity of native drought-tolerant plants that will provide cuttings for propagation. Trees for Tucson will train students during workdays to install the irrigation system.
The club intends to use the plants in their own pollinator garden installations, but also expect to donate the remainder to Trees for Tucson with the understanding that they will be used solely for underfunded projects, e.g. at local schools, public parks, or street tree plantings.
