The Cornell Botanic Gardens system includes several native plant gardens that function as mature pollinator habitats, such as the noteworthy Mundy Wildflower Garden home to spring ephemerals and native understory shrubbery. There is also the Botanic Buzzline – a 980 square foot flowering pathway that connects people and pollinators to the plants within the botanic gardens. For information on additional sites, see Cornell’s Sustainable Landscapes Trail.

The Marshy Garden is a grassroots endeavor that engages ecological restoration from an artistic perspective. The site experiments in pairing pollinator garden techniques with sculptural artform to become a novel experimental site where different methods of local restoration efforts can be applied to see their efficacy in attracting native biodiversity.

The Ulysses Bee Friendly Community Committee was established by Town Board resolution on October 25, 2022.  The purpose of the committee is to become an affiliate of Bee City USA, and maintain this affiliation, an initiative of the nonprofit Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation.

Ecosystem resilience is a core principle of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County. We emphasize pollinator plants in our Community Beautification plantings and Demonstration when appropriate. Many of our Master Gardener Volunteers focus their community volunteering efforts on educating people about the importance of native plants.

Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve in Newfield, NY was one of the first natural burial cemeteries in the United States. The 130-acre meadowland property is stewarded for the well-being of native plants, grassland birds and pollinators. Burials are simple–loved ones are returned to the earth in natural fiber shrouds or plain pine boxes on a bed of evergreen boughs.

Commonland Community, located off Route 79, is a development catered towards providing close proximity living to downtown Ithaca, while supporting close connections to nature. The spaces around buildings and community gardens have been adapted to include native pollinator plantings, with strong community engagement.

The Town of Ithaca Conservation Board is working to encourage Town residents to conserve and create pollinator habitat. We conduct outreach through events such as garden tours, and share information via the Town of Ithaca newsletter and Facebook page as well as other media.

If you are part of a local organization with shared environmental goals, we would love to collaborate with you! Please email tompkinspollinatorpathway@gmail.com if you are interested in being a local partner in our collaborative effort to protect and promote pollinators in our area.