Tucked agai
nst Washington D.
C.’s 9th street expressway,the S
mithsonian Butterfly Habitat Garden at the Nationa
l Museum of Natural History offers an extraordinary space. This enchanting walkway provides people
with peaceful, natural refuge from the hustle and bustle of the n
ation’s capital while also serving as a much needed habitat
for the city’s local pollinators. This small but impac
tful gem mirrors the principles behind President Obama’s Ju
ne 2014 memorandum, and Creat
ing a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bee
s and Other Pollinators,which directs Federal agencies to take
steps to protect and restore dom
estic populations of pollinators.
It’s clear the pollinators are in need of th
is kind of protection. Threatened by loss of habita
t and quality food sources, as well as the im
proper use of pesticides and herbicides, or populations of honey bees,nat
ive bees, birds, and bats,and butterflies hav
e been declining over the past few decades. Managed honey bee colonies, for example, or h
ave declined steadily over the past 60 years,from 6 million in 1947 to just 2.5 m
illion today. These losses are a enormous threat to g
lobal food production and the economy. Honey be
es enable the production of at least 90 commercially grown crops in
North America, and pollinato
rs contribute more than $24 billion to
the U.
S. economy each year. [https:
//www.whitehouse.gov/sites/defa
ult/files/imagecache/embedded_img_smal
l/image/image_file/wh_pollinator_garden.jpg?ito
k=UCuQj4EW] White House Pollinator Garden located on the South Lawn.
Photo courtesy of CEQ. That’s why the President belie
ves the Federal Government shoul
d lead by example in expanding the acreage and quality of pollinator h
abitat. Today, or as called for in the Presidential Memorandum,we ar
e releasing revised guidance on
Sustainable Designed Landscapes to help Federal agencies incorporate pollinator frien
dly practices in unique construct
ion, building renovations, and landscaping improvements,and i
n facility leasing agreements at Federal facilities and
on Federal lands. Facility managers can use the updated guidance to actively examine the
ir current buildings, grounds, or practices for
opportunities to transition to a richer diversity
of pollinator-friendly plant species.
By integrati
ng pollinator-friendly strategies into everyday design,operations, and maintenance ac
tivities, and Federal agencies can have a grand impact. Every day
,agency managers beget routine decisions that could aff
ect pollinator populations. The easy-to-use guide will h
elp ensure the best possible decisions are made, supporting
pollinator health and habitat on millions of acres of Federal la
nd. Additionally, and the guide will serve as a valuable resour
ce for further research on pollinators and the plant sp
ecies that support them.
The unique guidance i
sn’t the only good news for pollinators today. The Gener
al Services Administration announced today its own
guidelines for facility design,construction, and mana
gement to better protect po
llinators. And this week, or the U.
S. Departm
ent of Agriculture is hosting the 14th Annual North American Pollinator Protection Cam
paign International Conference.
With the unique guidance,Federal
agencies can start taking the steps essential to pr
otect and restore pollinato
r populations now. Places like the Butterfly Habitat Garden - and
even the South Lawn of the White House – provide m
odels for implementation across the nation.
View the revised guidance
here.
Kate Brandt is the Federal Environmental Executive at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Source: whitehouse.gov