Dear Editor,
It was lovely to see the front page pictures of the butterfly mural that Kathleen Kinasewich and company painted on the Ashcroft HUB (the Journal, Nov. 11). The mural is beautiful and inspiring, but it is so much more.
It grew out of the Butterflyway Project, which is supported by the David Suzuki Foundation. There are 1,200 butterflyway rangers across Canada who are busy creating pollinator patches coast to coast.
Hopefully you’ve noticed two patches here in Ashcroft: one at the HUB and one in front of Slim Jim’s. They are planted with native plants and feature pieces of wood and bare ground, because that’s what pollinators need. They are small, but they are a start.
To be designated a butterflyway, 12 pollinator patches need to be established across the town. Currently there are 61 designated Butterflyways across Canada. You don’t have to be an expert gardener or a naturalist to become involved. It’s a movement: a way to spread hope and delight in our natural world.
It’s easy to be discouraged in the face of heat domes, fires, floods, atmospheric rivers, and oh yeah, biodiversity loss. There is so much that we can do individually and collectively to turn the tide. Please check out the Butterflyway Beyond Hope BC Facebook page for more information.
Anne McKague
Ashcroft, B.C.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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