"Pollinator Partnership Receives National Medal for Environmental Protection and Advocates Increased Public Protection of Pollinators"

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The Pollinator Partnership (P2) was presented the prestigious Cynthia Pratt Laughlin Medal by The Garden Club of America at its annual awards ceremony on April 30 in Indianapolis, Indiana. P2 is the twenty-second recipient of this national medal, awarded for “outstanding achievement in environmental protection and the maintenance of the quality of life.”

Pollination is vital to the production of 80% of the world's crops and to many plants in the planet’s ecosystems. In presenting this medal, The Garden Club of America acknowledged P2’s effective efforts to achieve its mission "...to protect pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education and research” through “building awareness of pollinator issues and advancing scientific understanding.” Several of P2’s major accomplishments were cited, including its “creation and management of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) through which key governmental and non-governmental stakeholders take actions to protect pollinators.”

The GCA also recognized P2’s work with federal agencies and Congress to integrate pollinator language into key legislation, such as The Farm Act of 2008, and its promotion of public initiatives. The designation of the annual Pollinator Week during the last week of June encourages the public’s involvement in protecting bees, birds, bats and other pollinators.

In accepting this medal, P2’s Executive Director, Laurie Davies Adams, acknowledged, “More than any group in the country, The Garden Club of America has an appreciation for the power of plants and the integral—but often unseen or even unknown—role played by pollinators in securing our food supply and our natural environment.” She further noted, “Tragically, pollinators show dangerous signs of decline worldwide.”

Adams advocates that everyone should share in protecting pollinators through creating pollinator-friendly habitat. The P2 web site, www.pollinator.org, offers Eco-Regional Guides identifying the plants and planting methods capable of supporting pollinators in 31 regions across the continental US. The web site also has important information about P2’s many initiatives to save pollinators and how the public can help.

Additional information about P2 receiving this medal can be found on The Garden Club of America web site, www.gcamerica.org.