Deadline: 27-Oct-22
The City Of Toronto is now seeking applications for its PollinateTO Grants.
Pollinators support healthy and resilient ecosystems that clean the air, sequester carbon, stabilize soils, absorb storm water and protect from extreme weather.
Pollinators, especially bees, provide the important ecosystem service of pollination – which allows plants to produce seeds, fruits, and new plants. This is essential for food production and creating their natural landscapes. Pollinators also support other wildlife – for example, butterfly larva (caterpillars) are a critical source of food for birds.
Pollinators contribute to the biodiversity in their city and hold intrinsic value as wildlife species with unique natural histories.
Who are the pollinators?
- Bees
- Butterflies
- Birds
- Moths
- Flies
- Beetles
- Wasps
Why should they be concerned about pollinators?
Pollinators are under increasing stress due to:
- Habitat loss
- Invasive species
- Diseases
- Pesticides
- Climate change
Studies have shown that some species are in drastic decline, including the endangered Monarch butterfly and several species of bumblebees including the Rusty-patched bumblebee.
Climate change and pollinators
Pollinators are vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change.
- Bee populations are harmed by extreme weather events such as heat waves and storms.
- Temperature changes and warming weather can make it harder for some bees to be active at the right time.
- The warming climate is causing some ecological mismatches between when bees and flowers are out, resulting in less food for bees and fewer pollinators for the flowers.
- Increasing CO2 levels are resulting in less nutritious pollen.
- Invasive plants can spread to new areas with climate change, crowding out native plants, and reducing plant diversity and food for bees.
What you can do to help pollinators?
The best way to help native pollinators is to plant native plants. Native plants provide pollen and nectar for food, as well as places to nest, overwinter and reproduce.
- Include native plants that support pollinators in your garden, in pots, or in your community spaces.
- Convert some of your lawn to a pollinator garden or meadow.
- Encourage members of your community to include native plants in their gardens.
Funding Information
- You can apply for up to $5,000 per project.
Eligible Projects
Examples of eligible projects include:
- Shared community gardens.
- School ground teaching gardens.
- Indigenous education gardens.
- Rain gardens.
- Multiple (three or more) front yard gardens on the same street that together create a “pollinator pathway”.
- Grants of up to $5,000 are available to support community-led projects that:
- Create a new pollinator garden or rain garden.
- Expand or enhance an existing garden by adding native pollinator-friendly plants.
- Convert a lawn area or hard surface to a pollinator garden.
- PollinateTO supports projects that:
- Directly result in the creation of pollinator habitat in Toronto.
- Are visible to the community.
- Include an educational component to inform others about pollinator stewardship.
- Involve the community in some way.
Eligibility Criteria
PollinateTO is open to all resident-led groups and non-profit groups. Groups must have at least three residents of Toronto (from separate households) as part of the group.
- Eligible Applicants
- Resident, tenant and neighbourhood groups.
- Community groups and organizations.
- School groups, student clubs and parent councils.
- Indigenous groups.
- Faith groups.
- Business improvement areas (BIAs).
- Registered charitable organizations and not-for-profit organizations.
- Not-for-profit organizations with offices outside of Toronto are eligible to apply if the proposed garden is located within a Neighbourhood Improvement Area (NIA).
Ineligible applicants.
- Individuals (must be part of a group with at least three members living in three separate households).
- For-profit businesses.
- Building and property managers.
- Grant making organizations.
- Organizations allied with political parties.
For more information, visit https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/pollinateto-community-grants/