By Cassidy Olmedo

I am Cassidy Olmedo. I am interning with North Carolina Cooperative Extension in Rowan County this summer. I look forward to the 4-H Summer Fun programs coming up, as well as working with local farms to research a virus affecting tomato plants. I have previously worked on a farm in Woodleaf, where I have personally seen the impacts of this virus on the quality of tomatoes produced. I am interested to see where this research project leads.

I am currently a senior at Catawba College, where I am working towards my bachelor’s degree in environment and sustainability. While at Catawba, I have spent much time researching plant and pollinator species. I have learned the importance of a healthy pollinator population, especially concerning agriculture.

North Carolina is a beautiful, biologically diverse state. In N.C., approximately 500 species of bees and 175 species of butterflies serve as our pollinators, and that doesn’t include the wide variety of other insect, bird and mammal pollinators. These pollinators provide vital services to farmers in pollinating crops. Without our pollinators, we would soon have no food.

To protect pollinator species populations, communities need to act to provide habitats. When landscaping homes, people often opt for non-native plants for various reasons, including price, availability and ease. Non-native, invasive plants are widely sold as popular landscaping plants. Many native pollinators cannot use these plants for food, breeding sites, shelter or other resources.

Some people are against using native plants for landscaping purposes because they often look like they have been eaten, and that is because they have been! Native plants provide food sources to a wide variety of necessary insect species.

My hope is that those who can choose to plant native species in their yards or other areas. Our pollinator species have fantastic resilience! Where we restore native plants, pollinators rebound almost immediately — North Carolina tourism benefits from our spring wildflower displays. As more native plants are grown, we will likely see tourism increase. In addition to the plants, it would be great to see insects such as monarchs removed from endangered species lists.