Join us for our first program of the new program year: Welcoming Butterflies into your Backyard Landscape with Gabriela Garrison NC Wildlife Resources Commission, Eastern Piedmont Habitat Conservation Coordinator.

This presentation will teach you about butterflies and what they need to survive.  We will discuss both native and non-native, invasive plants, and the role they play in your backyard.  Gabriela will delve into strategies and types of native plants that will make your backyard appealing and inviting for butterflies.  She may also spend a minute (or two) talking about native bees, as they have similar requirements to butterflies and are very cool insects!  Butterflies don’t have a long list of conditions to survive, but hopefully you’ll understand that they cannot function without some key habitat components.

Bio: Gabriela Garrison is the Eastern Piedmont Habitat Conservation Coordinator for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.  She works with developers, consultants, and government agencies to develop ecologically friendly guidance to minimize impacts to wildlife and priority habitat in a developing landscape.  She also works in support of the Green Growth Toolbox, a non-regulatory guide that provides the appropriate tools for NC towns, cities, and counties to grow while conserving wildlife and natural resources.  In 2017, she formed the NC Pollinator Conservation Alliance (NCPCA), a partnership comprised of over 25 conservation agencies and organizations that work to promote pollinator and habitat conservation across the State.  For more information on the NCPCA, please visit www.ncpollinatoralliance.org.