NEWS RELEASE
SEVERN SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATION
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The Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA) is excited to share that two partner municipalities, the Town of Midland and Township of Tiny, are highlighted in the newly released Bee City Handbook from the Pollinator Partnership Canada.
The SSEA has worked collaboratively with municipal partners to support their efforts to protect and restore pollinators and their habitat.
“This handbook is an excellent resource for municipalities to learn the different ways to naturalize and promote pollinator habitat in our communities and we are proud to see the great work of two of our partner municipalities being highlighted,” says Julie Cayley, executive director of the Severn Sound Environmental Association.
Town of Midland joined Bee City in 2021 and has naturalized seven sites in town. Township of Tiny’s efforts with Depave Paradise won the township a Wege Award from the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in 2023. The repurposed tennis courts have become a vibrant community garden filled with human and pollinator activity. Since joining the program in 2016, Township of Tiny has planted eight wildflower meadows across the township. Both municipalities celebrate Pollinator Week in June and communicate information about the importance of pollinators and how to naturalize your garden.
Check out the newly released handbook here.
Township of Severn, Town of Penetanguishene, and Township of Georgian Bay are also proud Bee City members. The towns of Penetanguishene and Midland worked with the SSEA in 2023 with provincial support from the Great Lakes Local Action Fund planting potted wildflowers, spreading wildflower seed across the naturalized areas, and planting trees and shrubs to add biodiversity to five park sites. In the Township of Severn there is a large utility corridor naturalization project and Township of Georgian Bay celebrates their Bee City designation with an excellent community festival, Township of Georgian Bay Honey Bee Festival, in the ideal location, Honey Harbour.
Stay tuned for more exciting habitat restoration and pollinator projects in the Severn Sound watershed.
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