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.
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.
There is now an established and thriving pollinator plant nursery area in the community garden! The team has donated hundreds of plants that they grew themselves from propagations. Throughout the duration of the project, irrigation has been added and trenches have been dug to support the installation of parent plants. These native and pollinator-friendly plants are established and are used to create propagations.
The Ecological Restoration club was diligent in organizing many garden work days, hosting and attending plant sales, and making connections across Tucson. They have made an estimated eight new partnerships since the start of the initiative!
The student team has added plant labels, a bee nesting box, a seed library, and created educational materials they use at community outreach events. They will continue to care and expand the Pollinator Equity Project to serve the broader Tucson community.
