The problem: "Many species of pollinators are experiencing dramatic declines. Populations of native bees and other pollinators are threatened by climate change, pesticide exposure, habitat degradation and agricultural intensification, declining populations of native flowering plants, and introduced pathogens."- Audubon

Pollinators provide pollination services to over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1200 crops. That means that 1 out of every three bites of food you eat is there because of pollinators. - The Pollinator Partnership

With the dramatic decline of pollinators, more than 1,200 crops are also at risk of declining thereby decreasing the amount of food produced. Since most pollinators can only travel up to 5 miles (depending in the species), many towns throughout New England have created Pollinator Paths. These are patches of land at a school, along the highway, in parks, or in people's backyards where plants necessary for pollination are grown. Our neighboring town of Beverly, MA is an example (see Project website) of where a robust Pollinator Path has been implemented successfully. Currently, neither Hamilton nor Wenham have a Pollinator Path which means their pollination is limited in distance. I am therefore, applying for seed money (literally and figuratively) to add more Pollinator gardens in our two towns so that Beverly's bees, for example, have someplace to land in Hamilton or Wenham before pollinating again in another neighboring town with a Pollinator Path. My aim is to provide a link where there currently is none.