Back in May, Gabriela Garrison from NCWRC gave a very interesting and informative program on the Southeast Bumble Bee Atlas. North Carolina is working with Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina in tracking bumble bees. She walked us through all the steps involved from adopting a cell to catching, identifying, and releasing the bumble bees to filling in the paperwork online. We then gathered a few weeks later for training where we actually caught bumble bees in bee nets, anesthetized them, and then identified, logged, and released them. It was quite fun and interesting! There are still cells available for adoption for this important community science program. For more information, check out the Southeast Bumble Bee Atlas.

Our PRO (Proclamations, Resolutions, and Ordinances) Team has been working to promote the use of native plants since 2021. It all began with the Native Plants Week Proclamation in October of 2021. We are thrilled!

On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, all nine of Greensboro’s City Council members voted and passed a resolution to make native plants a key component of all new city plantings by 2025.

The policy is the latest initiative by the Office of Sustainability and Resiliency to create sustainable change in Greensboro. In the filing for the resolution, the department stated its purpose as follows:

“A resolution from City Council supporting the establishment of a native plant policy on City properties will yield surmountable environmental, ecological, and social benefits for a more enhanced ecosystem full of biodiversity and resiliency. Furthermore, it will serve as a great example for others who look to Greensboro as a leader that embraces our communities’ desire to become a more environmentally-friendly City.”

Greensboro’s Native Plants Policy came about, in large part, through the dedicated advocacy efforts of our local T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon’s PRO’s (Proclamations, Resolutions, and Ordinances) team. The national organization of Audubon provides training and materials to assist local chapters in their advocacy efforts through cultivating interested members to form a PRO’s team. Thanks to that initiative, a few TGPAS board members organized and asked to meet with Greensboro's Deputy City Manager in July of 2021 to advocate for native plants. The board members shared both their passion and knowledge with city officials and shared both books and digital videos by Doug Tallamy that made the case for the critical need to restore native plants in concentration in our landscapes to restore biodiversity. Over the next two and a half years, communications and advocacy efforts continued, culminating in the crafting of a native plants resolution in the fall of 2022 that is the basis for what the City Council passed on March 5th.

The policy change is the result of a collaboration between the City’s OSR department along with the Parks and Recreation Department other city departments and local stakeholders including T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society, the North Carolina Native Plant Society, and numerous enthusiastic community members and will result in a policy that both prioritizes the use of native plants and discourages the use of invasive and non-native species.

The City expects this new policy to help our local government save money, reduce pollution, and protect waterways and wildlife habitats. They have recognized that “to plant with a purpose” can also aid in the transformation of our City’s landscape and surrounding areas and have a profound impact on creating beautiful visual examples that our residents can then extend into private gardens.

We commend Greensboro’s Director of Sustainability, Dr. Shree Dorestant, and Interim City Manager, Chris Wilson, for their leadership and support of this policy.

Greensboro is the first city in North Carolina to adopt such a policy for city-owned and maintained properties and facilities.