Bee City Eugene - what's next?

By becoming a Bee City, The City of Eugene has formally acknowledged the importance of pollinators to healthy ecosystems and joined the national movement to protect and support our pollinators now and in the future. Bee Cities support collaboration to establish and maintain healthy pollinator habitats within city limits.

The City of Eugene will now begin conversations about how to grow local, native plants that sustain local pollinator species. The City has also committed to participate in ongoing conversations about how to reduce and eliminate chemicals that are harmful to pollinators, our food security and the planet!

Among the promises made as part of being an official Bee City, the City of Eugene will work with communities to raise awareness about pollinator diversity and the benefits of using native plants in habitat restoration.

Photos by (L to R): Andi Saxon, Bilyan Belchev and Claire Miller

We must recognize how vitally important pollinators are, and pledge to do whatever we can to encourage and support them. For anyone with a garden, we can all create pollinator friendly spaces by growing plants that will provide food, creating shelter, leaving space undisturbed for pollinators to build nests in the soil and creating a safe, pesticide-free environment. For those without access to gardening space, we can volunteer some of our time supporting local pollinator habitat restoration efforts, write letters to our legislators to support strong policies to help protect these amazing creatures, and choose to spend our money at local businesses that support pollinator protections!