Pollinators

Pollinators such as native bees, hummingbirds and butterflies are the reproductive force that keeps mother nature's cycles moving—scientists estimate that 88% of plants depend upon pollinators for propagation.

In Canada, pollinators play a significant role in our food security—plants such as tomatoes, peppers, apples, peaches, cucumbers and pumpkins need pollinators to reproduce.

To learn more, order or download our Toronto Area Guide to Pollinators and/or Toronto Area Native Plants.

Or come see David Suzuki talk about pollinators on Saturday May 3rd in Toronto.

These pollinators provide an ‘ecosystem service’—a service performed by nature that is often invaluable and hard to replicate through artificial methods. Other examples of ecosystem services that we benefit from include: water purification, flood mitigation, carbon sequestration and climate regulation--all of which are provided for by forests.

But these services depend upon healthy, functioning ecosystems that support the species within them. Across Canada, natural ecosystems are being degraded and fragmented. This is threatening the viability of our native bees (of which there are more than 800 species!) and the foods and plants that they help to propagate.

Download our fact sheet on bees that examines why they are important pollinators _^[PDF], including what you can do to help provide habitat for bees in the city or in rural areas.

Resources
To learn more about pollinators, visit:
• Pollination Canada
• Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
• North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

Coming soon: guidebooks for native pollinators and native plants that support pollinators in the Greater Toronto Area.