The People's Money (2024-2025)
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Create a World-Class Monarch Butterfly Conservation Facility Habitat Restoration Staging Area and Butterfly Vivarium at Inwood Hill Park Nature Center
- Do you have specific Neighborhood(s) in mind?
- Inwood
- Which group(s) does your idea focus on? Select as many as apply.
-
YouthOlder AdultsPublic Housing ResidentsJustice Impacted PeoplePeople with DisabilitiesLimited English SpeakersImmigrants/ MigrantsVeteransLGBTQ+ PeopleParentsUnhoused PeopleLow Income PeopleBlack, Indigenous and/or People of Color
- Describe the challenge you want to address:
- The Monarch Butterfly Crisis in NYC: A Call to Action! The monarch butterfly, a vital pollinator and iconic species, is on the brink of extinction in urban environments like NYC. Habitat loss, pesticide use, and dwindling milkweed supplies threaten their survival. Compounding this issue is: Limited public awareness and understanding of the monarch's plight. Restricted access to Inwood Hill Park Nature Center, a crucial resource for environmental education. Insufficient funding for staff and programming. Lack of habitat restoration strategies and dedicated conservation programs. Limited educational opportunities for urban youth. We must act now to protect the monarch butterfly and our ecosystem. It's time to act before it's too late! We must raise awareness, increase access to educational programs and facilities, and inspire community-led conservation efforts.
- What is the solution to the challenge?
- We propose a community driven Monarch Butterfly Conservation Program at Inwood Hill Park Nature Center. Our efforts will provide a world class Nature Learning facility that will be supported by New Yorkers from every borough, attract amateur and expert lepidopterists, and bring in visitors from around the world. We will create substantial new revenue streams in the form of individual donations, museum quality gift shop sales and philanthropy oriented to supporting environmental causes. Our boots on the ground partnership between the Inwood Butterfly Sanctuary, Dos Amigos School, Friends of Inwood Hill Park, and NYC Urban Park Rangers will maintain a dedicated conservation and education program to protect endangered monarch butterflies, serve as docents for student and visitors tours, and restore this beautiful and iconic pollinator to our communities as we work together to save the miraculous monarch butterfly migration from extinction. We will establish seasonal nature learning programs focusing on monarch life cycles, habitat needs, and conservation techniques. We will devise strategies to restore habitats by propagating and planting native common milkweed within Inwood Hill Park, where it was once in abundance. The Inwood Hill Park will become a staging area for the distribution of live milkweed plants and seeds to visitors who will create habitats and waystations in their areas. We will engage local residents in community planting events, hands-on conservation and monarch-friendly habitat creation in Inwood Hill Park. We will offer children of all ages unique opportunities to raise, study, tag, and release monarch butterflies. Such formative experiences create lasting impressions on children and foster within them empathy and concern for our environment what will lead to future stewards of our planet. Enhanced Educational Impact: Equip the Nature Center with interactive exhibits and educational materials highlighting monarch conservation importance. Create seasonal “Butterfly Experience” living butterfly vivarium where visitors can observe up close, hand-feed and release healthy adult monarch butterflies raised from eggs in the facility. By promoting habitat restoration, increasing public awareness, and providing hands-on learning opportunities, this partnership will empower the Inwood community to make a significant contribution to monarch conservation and preservation that will be internationally recognized. We will emulate the years of experience of the Inwood Butterfly Sanctuary, which was recently recognized with an international Anthem Award in the category of Sustainability Climate Environment and Community Engagement for “Wings Without Borders.” This proposal has the potential to transform Inwood Hill Park into a flagship destination for visitors from around the world who will come to observe, participate and support this amazing initiative! Visit https://savemonarchbutterflies.org for more about Inwood Butterfly Sanctuary Wings Without Borders project.
- Please provide your Zip Code
- 10034
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