Project Pollinator at LA Zoo plans to restore native pollinating plants to Los Angeles gardens.

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Project Pollinator

The Challenge

Habitat for native wildlife is dwindling at an alarming rate. This affects biodiversity, including migratory birds, pollinators, and bat species. Los Angeles is located within a biodiversity hotspot that is also an ever-growing urban setting, with shrinking natural spaces and less native habitats available for wildlife. The challenge: How can Angelenos help native wildlife in an urban environment? The solution: Create more native habitats where Angelenos live — in an open space on your property, balcony, or windowsill. Everyone can be a part of this solution!

Project Pollinator logo
Dr. Jake Owens joins Zoo Conservation Committee volunteers to pull invasive plants.
Dr. Jake Owens joins the Zoo Conservation Committee to pull invasive plants at the Fern Dell West Trail in Griffith Park.

The Solution: Sowing Change

Yellow Rumped Warbler, siting on a laurel sumac branch, is a native habitat pollinator

The Los Angeles Zoo’s Project Pollinator creates native habitat and serves as an example of the simple steps Angelenos can take in their homes and communities to support and create native habitats for songbirds, migratory birds, butterflies, bees, bats, and other species. These pollinators are crucial to the day-to-day life of our planet.

As program partners in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) programs for North American songbirds and North American monarch butterflies, the Los Angeles Zoo is working to achieve the objectives of these programs, including widespread distribution of native and monarch-safe plants, increasing native habitat for pollinator and migratory species, and promoting community science as a monitoring tool. As part of this effort, the Zoo is not only creating new and updated native habitats around the Zoo and Griffith Park, but also empowering Angelenos and other visitors to the Zoo to take actions to support pollinators in their communities.

Learn more about Project Pollinator at the Zoo and how to create a thriving biome for native pollinators.

Jess Kohring and Dan Keeffe at the Project Pollinator Garden.

Gardens

The L.A. Zoo has created several examples of native habitat for pollinators both at the Zoo and around L.A.

Purple Prairie Dog plants in the Pollinator Garden.

Resources

Find out how you can help create and maintain a native habitat for pollinators in Los Angeles.

Worker find a lady bug in the Pollinator Garden

Partners

Project Pollinator is a collaboration between the L.A. Zoo, other City departments, and non-profit partners to support local biodiversity.