If you've got some room in your yard, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has a challenge for you. The zoo is encouraging people to plant a garden for pollinators like butterflies and bees.
Scott Beuerlein is manager of botanical garden outreach and says the challenge is conservation work, literally in your own backyard. "A lot of people are frustrated that a lot of the conservation that gets done is overseas: this high-profile animal or that one. But the one thing we can really do on our own, right here in your own backyard, is conserve pollinators by putting good plants out there for their habitat, for their hosting and for their food."
Beuerlein says the zoo wants to help those who sign up, with online expertise.
"It breaks it down to a scientific, yet very understandable step-by-step process of how to create a garden and make it work really well," he says.
Beuerlein says the food humans and animals eat depends on pollinators. He says a lot of them also prey on pests. "If you're seeing a lot of pollinators in your yard, you've got a fairly healthy ecosystem there and we're trying to increase that."
The zoo is hoping for at least 500 people to sign up for the Plant for Pollinators Challenge.
