- project leader
- Emily F
- location
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175-10 Cross Bay Boulevard(NYC DOE schoolyards and national parkland in Queens in Brooklyn)
- latest update rss
- Thank you for helping us purchase our native plants!
the project
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is committed to uniting all Americans to ensure that wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. Since 2013, NWF in New York City has been partnering with the National Park Service, the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, the NYC Department of Education and partners on a program called Growing a Wild NYC (see www.growingwildnyc.org). The year-long program engages K-12 students, and teachers in NYC public schools, and community volunteers, in creating and restoring pollinator habitat in their schools and local parks, while teaching them about their environment.
Through a series of Six Steps, Growing a Wild NYC educates students about the important role of pollinators and the causes of their decline. It empowers them to grow and plant the native plants that pollinators need to survive. More than 2,000 students have made a tangible difference for wildlife since 2013 by planting thousands of native plants in parks and schoolyards in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. They have seen flowers bloom and native pollinators return to the areas they restored.
Unfortunately, in 2017, NWF and NPS lost their funding for this highly successful and much-loved program. The program is continuing without funding thanks to the passion and dedication of the partners. However, we lack the funds to purchase the native plants, from the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, that the students will need to plant in June 2018!!
Please help us help the pollinators by donating generously so we can purchase the plants we need to create more pollinator habitat in New York City!
the steps
October/November – First Field Trip to Gateway National Recreation Area Introduction to Growing a Wild NYC program, seed collection and cleaning, soil testing, STEM activities, initial Fall plantings in park.
November - Order for thousands of native seedlings placed with Greenbelt Native Plant Center. These plants supplement what students grow in the classroom.
January – First Classroom Visit by Program Staff Introduction to seeds, seed germination, how to grow seedlings under grow lights in the classroom, how to care for seedlings.
March – Second Classroom Visit by Program Staff Staff demonstrate how to “step up” or transfer seedlings from seed trays to pots for later planting into the ground. Staff follow up with schools on their seed-growing experiments and protocols.
May/June – Students Create Pollinator Gardens Students, teachers, volunteers and program staff plant hundreds of high nectar seedlings that they've grown in their classrooms in their schoolyards.
May/June – Final Field Trip to Gateway All students return to their local national park to plant thousands of high nectar seedlings provided by our local native plant nursery, Greenbelt Native Plant Center.
why we're doing it
Over 80 percent of the world’s flowering plants require a pollinator to reproduce. In the United States one third of all agricultural output depends on pollinators. Insects (butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, ants, wasps) and other animal pollinators (bats, birds) are vital to the production of healthy crops for food, fibers, edible oils, medicines, and other products.
Unfortunately, populations of bees and other pollinators are declining around the world as a result of habitat loss, overuse of pesticides, parasites and disease, and climate change and extreme weather events that are disrupting natural cycles and migration patterns.
Growing a Wild NYC educates students about this important global issue and engages students in restoring the critical habitat that pollinators need to survive
National Park Service staff have chosen.native plant species for planting that will bloom throughout the growing season, to ensure that pollinators can have food all year round.
More importantly, the program seeks to create pollinator corridors that connect schoolyards and parks so that pollinators have as many places to rest and feed as possible, especially as they're migrating through New York City!
budget
updates
Thank you for helping us purchase our native plants!
Posted 01/23/2018 - 6:29pm
Dear friends of wildlife,
The National Wildlife Federation would like to thank you all so very much for your donations which are helping us to purchase 17 species of native plants (a total of 1,000 plants) that our 608 students will plant in June 2018 at Gateway National Recreation Area - our local national park - as part of the Growing a Wild NYC program. Students, their teachers, and parent volunteers will be planting at several different sites:
- Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (Queens)
- Floyd Bennett Field (Brooklyn)
- Schoolyard gardens (Brooklyn and Queens)
Thanks to you, we will be purchasing the following native plants from the Greenbelt Native Plant Center - NYC's native plant nursery located in Staten Island:
1) 20 Asclepias incarnata – Swamp milkweed
2) 50 Asclepias syriaca - Common milkweed
3) 150 Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly weed
4) 100 Baptisia tinctoria - Wild indigo
5) 50 Euthamia graminifolia - Flat top goldentop
6) 50 Eupatorium hyssopifolium - Hyssop-leaf thoroughwort
7) 50 Eupatorium serotinum - White boneset
8) 20 Helianthus decapetalus – Ten-petal sunflower
9) 20 Lespedeza capitata - Round-headed bush clover
10) 75 Monarda fistulosa - Wild bergamot
11) 50 Nuttalanthus canadensis – Canada toadflax
12) 50 Rudbeckia hirta - Blackeyed Susan
13) 50 Solidago canadensis – Canada goldenrod
14) 125 Solidago juncea - Early goldenrod
15) 40 Solidago rugose - Rough-stemmed goldenrod
16) 50 Solidago sempervirens - Salt marsh goldenrod
17) 50 Symphyotrichum novae-angliae - New England aster
These plants will help create colorful, biodiverse havens for pollinators and fill nectar gaps that currently exist at Gateway and across the City.
We will send you photos of the plants that the students have planted in June.
Thanks again for your support. It will make many bees, butterflies and birds very happy!
We also want to thank ioby for providing this wonderful fundraising platform that allows individuals and organizations to help make this world a better place.
Sending everyone bee love and honey kisses,
Emily A. Fano
Senior Manager
National Wildlife Federation
NYC Eco-Schools
(646) 502-7096
Thank you to our first donors!
Posted 11/28/2017 - 2:11pm
Thank you to our first donors who kicked off our campaign. We're very grateful to you! Please help spread the word to friends, family and colleagues! We now have our official plant list from the Greenbelt Native Plant Center:
Asclepias incarnata: Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca: Common Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa: Butterfly Weed
Baptisia tinctoria: Horsefly Weed
Eupatorium hyssopifolium: Hyssop Leaf Thoroughwort
Eupatorium serotinum: Late Flowering Thoroughwort
Euthamia graminifolia: Lance Leafed Goldenrod
Helianthus decapetalus: Thin Leafed Sunflower
Lespedeza capitata: Round Headed Bush Clover
Monarda fistulosa: Wild Bergamot
Nuttallanthus Canadensis: Canada Toadflax/Little Seed
Rudbeckia hirta: Black-Eyed Susan
Solidago Canadensis: Canada Goldenrod
Solidago juncea: Early Goldenrod
Solidago rugosa: Rough Stemmed Goldenrod
Solidago sempervirens: Seaside Goldenrod
Symphyotrichum Novae-Angliae: New England Aster
photos
This is where photos will go once we build flickr integrationdonors
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Anonymous
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Lily Engelhardt
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Sharon Bahus
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Stefano Caroti
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Stacy Gordon
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lizziebee
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Anonymous
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Wendy E Brawer
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Anonymous
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Monica Ibacache of Beyond Organic Design
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Mary Gong
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Mina Campanie
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Rebecca W.
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Anonymous
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