This past weekend, Wakefield Rotary Club President Wendy Maguire with members Joie Gerrish and Amy Luckiewicz sowed 30 containers of seeds in recycled milk jugs for their upcoming Pollinator Garden project. The Pollinator Garden will be placed in a location in Wakefield as part of the club’s commitment to environmental work.
In 2020, Rotary International added environmental work to it areas of focus. Through the Rotary Foundation and local clubs, Rotarians are committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. Rotary empowers communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions, and spur innovation in an effort to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.
Globally, Rotary supports specific activities to promote environmental health including:• Protecting and restoring land, coastal, marine, and freshwater resources
• Enhancing the capacity of communities to support natural resource management and conservation
• Supporting sustainable agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture practices
• Addressing the cause of climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases
• Strengthening ecosystems and communities affected by climate change
• Supporting education initiatives that promote behavior that protects the environment
• Advocating for sustainable consumption to build an economy that uses resources more efficiently
• Addressing environmental justice issues and public health concerns
The Wakefield Rotary Club wishes to thank the Rotary Club of Bedford, MA for the inspiration and the Southborough Open Land Foundation which donated the seeds. 59 species were available from Dr. Robert Geager's plant list for at-risk pollinators and the club sowed 28 of those species for this project. Dr. Gaeger, Associate Professor of Biology from UMass Dartmouth, has done extensive research on native pollinator gardens.