Protecting Bees & Pollinators
See how Surrey is preserving and enhancing pollinator habitat with community projects.
Anything that can carry pollen on its body is a pollinator. This includes bees and wasps, but also:
- birds, bats & small mammals
- butterflies & moths
- flies & beetles
Taking care of pollinators is essential for our ecosystem to function. See what Surrey is doing and how you can make an impact for pollinators.
Challenges for Pollinators
About one third of our food production depends on pollinators. Unfortunately, pollinators face many problems including:
- habitat loss
- parasites & diseases
- pesticides
- climate change
Supporting Pollinators at Home
There are many ways you can attract and support pollinators in your yard, garden, or patio:
- Grow pollinator-friendly plants that will bloom throughout the season to provide food and nourishment. Plants can be grown in a garden bed, planter, or pots.
- When possible, choose plants that are native to BC.
- When buying plants, avoid plants that have been treated with pesticides (ask your garden centre) and avoid plants that are invasive to BC.
- Pollinators also need water. Add a shallow dish filled with rocks to your garden to allow them to land safely and rehydrate. Fill daily.
- Embrace some ‘wildness’ in your garden—rock piles, bare soil, old stems, and rotting wood can provide nesting and resting sites for many pollinators.
Pollinator Projects
See various projects around Surrey that benefit pollinators.
Pollinator Habitat at Edgewood Park
Edgewood Park is a neighbourhood park in Sunnyside Heights. The park includes a 330m2 pollinator meadow adjacent to a newly planted biodiversity corridor. The pollinator meadow is situated on a south-facing, sandy mound. Selected plant species mimic vegetation found on coastal sandy dunes.
The pollinator meadow is intended to be self-seeding once established; however, because planting is experimental the project will be monitored for up to two years to determine what establishes and to assess what adjustments may be required. In addition to pollinator plants, leaf litter from adjacent trees will be incorporated into the meadow to provide habitat cover for invertebrates during the winter.
Pollinator Bed and Lawn Alternative at the Clayton Community Centre
In the fall of 2022 with the help of local volunteers, two styles of pollinator habitat were installed at the Clayton Community Centre.
- Pollinator Horticulture Bed: Three beds were installed totaling an area of approximately 40m2. A selection of primarily native plants were selected based on their suitability for the site and based on providing blooms throughout spring and summer. Natural items including boulders and downed woody debris were also placed in the bed to support nesting habitat.
- Pollinator-Friendly Turf Alternative: An area of approximately 65m2 was selected to trial an alternative to traditional grass lawn. A mixture of clover and low growing wild flowers developed by West Coast Seeds was used to seed the area. It is intended to replace lawn in urban settings in order to reduce maintenance costs and increase habitat and forage for pollinators. This blend requires less water, less fertilizer, and less mowing than conventional lawn grasses.
With the help of community members this site will continue to be monitored and maintained throughout the year.