Growing More Than Flowers – Toronto's Innovative PollinateTO Grant Program Connects Communities
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Introduction
PollinateTO grant recipients pick up native plants from the Project Swallowtail plant sale for their pollinator garden. Photo Credit: Matt Forsythe
At the COP15 Conference in Montreal last year, world leaders championed the need to protect nature and halt biodiversity loss around the world. Biodiversity loss is happening at a faster rate than at any other time in human history with nearly 1 million species on the verge of extinction. Urban expansion is regarded as a key factor in species loss due to habitat destruction. The City of Toronto is challenging the notion that nature and cities can't co-exist well together and has a history of firsts when it comes to integrating and protecting its natural spaces.
While world leaders at COP 15 were discussing the links between climate change and biodiversity loss, the City of Toronto was launching the fourth round of its innovative program that provides funding to community groups to create pollinator habitats on public and private land.
Toronto’s PollinateTO Grants Program
The City of Toronto’s Pollinator Protection Strategy public consultation process engaged over 7000 residents and an expert advisory committee.
The work to develop the City’s Pollinator Protection Strategy began in 2016. After a rigorous public consultation process engaging more than 7,000 community members and expert advisory committees, a draft strategy identified six guiding principles and 44 specific actions that the City and community could take to support and sustain Toronto’s diverse pollinator populations. One of these actions was to ”seek funding for an incentive program that provides modest financial support to encourage community-led pollinator habitat creation or enhancement, and pollinator education initiatives.” And in 2019, a year after the Pollinator Protection Strategy was unanimously adopted by City Council, the PollinateTO Grants Program was launched.
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A flourishing garden by Green Thumbs Growing Kids, a PollinateTO grant recipient.
Aimed at addressing pollinator decline and habitat loss in Toronto, the PollinateTO Grants Program provides up to $5000 as well as training and technical support for community-led pollinator habitat creation projects that educate and engage communities and increase pollinator habitat in Toronto. The program, now in its fourth round of funding, has been instrumental in driving meaningful participation in pollinator protection and education.
A snapshot of the impacts of the PollinateTO Grants Program.
To date, the program has supported 150 community-led projects, the installation of more than 400 gardens across Toronto, and the creation of more than 24,000 square meters of pollinator habitat. While these stats are impressive, one could argue the greatest achievements to come out of the program are the friendships and community connections that have blossomed through a shared passion for pollinator stewardship. Participants are building more than just pollinator gardens, they are growing their communities through seed sharing, workshops, planting parties, Indigenous knowledge sharing and citizen science. They are connecting to the land and discovering there is a wealth of nature around them even in a dense urban center like Toronto. They are discovering they have the power to create meaningful change in their communities and for the City.
While Toronto has made important strides in pollinator protection, there is still much work to be done including shifting long held attitudes on aesthetics. In June 2021, City staff proposed an amendment to the Toronto Municipal Code asking that the City delay yard waste collection from single-family residential and multi-residential properties by four weeks each spring, to start yard waste collection in late April instead of late March. Plant and leaf litter provide overwintering habitat for many pollinators. Delaying yard waste collection would allow pollinators to remain undisturbed in their overwintering habitat until weather conditions are more favorable for emergence. Unfortunately, the amendment was referred for further review and consultation. In the meantime, City staff continue to encourage residents to delay their spring yard clean ups.
Looking ahead, there are many opportunities to increase pollinator habitat and protect biodiversity in Toronto while offering more equitable opportunities for residents to get involved. The PollinateTO program prioritizes and supports pollinator stewardship projects in Neighborhood Improvement Areas (NIAs) and Emerging Neighborhoods (ENs) recognizing that marginalized communities disproportionately experience barriers to accessing environmental resources. Although a step in the right direction, there is more work to be done. This is why City staff have engaged Pollinator Partnership (P2C) to undertake a new project called “Laying Roots: Engaging Neighbourhood Improvement Areas in Pollinator Stewardship”. This work will help inform the development of a strategy to engage NIA residents in more fulsome ways and help create healthy ecosystems that not only benefit pollinators but help to create climate resilient communities.
A timeline of how the PollinateTO Grants Program was created.
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The Toronto Green Standard
Toronto is addressing biodiversity loss at all levels and recognizes the role native plants play in future-proofing our cities. The Toronto Green Standard (TGS) is the construction cornerstone to Toronto reaching its ambitious goal of Net Zero by 2040. In May 2022, Version 4 of the TGS came into effect with even more stringent baselines for new development. The Standard consists of tiers of performance with Tier 1 being mandatory and applied through the planning approval process. Included in Tier 1 is the requirement that a minimum of 50 per cent of onsite at-grade plantings be native plants (including trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants). New to the Toronto Green Standard Version 4, is that it requires that these plantings comprise at least two native flowering species that provide continuous bloom throughout all periods of the growing season. Continuous blooms make it easier for many pollinators to find food throughout the year as bloom times are rapidly fluctuating due to climate change.
A PollinateTO Grants Program testimonial
Also new to TGS V4, is the requirement to add at least one onsite green infrastructure feature for stormwater management. Developers must select from an approved list which includes intensive and biodiverse green roofs, at-grade pollinator habitats, bioretention facilities and reforested sites. The new requirements are already driving the installation of biodiverse green roofs across the city.
Conclusion
With climate action needed at the global, national, and local levels, cities are well positioned to facilitate strategies, build the capacity of residents, and engage diverse communities in climate action at the hyper local level. Municipalities can look to communities and subject matter experts for guidance. Cities such as Toronto and Montreal, can serve as a road map for other municipalities looking to address the decline of native species and plants, and public engagement in climate action can serve as a road map for other municipalities looking to address the decline of native species and plants to create resiliency and public engagement in climate action.
A PollinateTO funded pollinator garden located in the Allan Gardens Playground in Toronto. Photo Credit: Matt Forsythe.
Supporting biodiversity and pollinator gardens is about more than looking pretty and attracting butterflies. Natural spaces help to ensure our communities and ecosystems remain resilient and adaptable to the effects of climate change, before ecosystems become degraded. These species that have adapted, thrived, and worked together for millennia cannot be replaced with technology, and humans must find a way to live in harmony with, and support, the natural environment.
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Tara Mabon is a Project Lead with the City of Toronto’s Environment & Climate division where she administers the PollinateTO Community Grants Program. Tara has a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from York University and a Graduate Certificate in Ecosystem Restoration from Niagara College. She is an ISA Certified Arborist and a Certified Seed Collector with the Forest Gene Conservation Association. She is passionate about educating people on the natural environment and empowering people to be environmental stewards.
Emma Tamlin is a Project Lead with the City of Toronto’s Environment & Climate Division where she supports the Eco-Roof Incentive Program. Emma works to support the development of holistic green infrastructure and urban agriculture projects. Her guiding goal is to create a built environment that restores and enhances human and ecosystem health.
