4-H News

South Carolina 4-H grows partnerships and pollinator habitat

Group of kids at Conestee park
4-H’ers gather at the future site of the Henderson Interpretive Pollinator garden project located at Conestee Nature Park
Photo credit: Jill Kreiman

South Carolina is known for its rather diverse climate. Days may start with frost on the leaves and by afternoon it is 70 degrees. Humid sub-tropical climate, temperate rainforests and rich coastal marshland provide habitats for an incredible amount of biodiversity in a relatively small-sized state. I will admit, even as the leader for 4-H Natural Resources Programs in South Carolina, I can take our state’s incredible natural resources for granted. Having lived here my entire life, I still haven’t explored all the places and environments that make our state so special. I was particularly alarmed when last summer the migrating monarch butterfly was added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of threatened species and categorized as “endangered” — two steps from extinct. Like the monarch, many of our native bee pollinators are at risk, and the status of many more is unknown. Habitat loss, alteration and fragmentation, pesticide use, climate change and introduced diseases all contribute to declines of bees. Pollinators provide an essential ecosystem service and, among our pollinators, bees are the most important.

4-H clover logo 4-H grows here

Through partnerships with Conestee Nature Preserve (CNP) and the support of The Bee Cause Project, South Carolina 4-H members are building a pollinator garden designed to provide habitat and educational opportunities for the public. Experiential learning has been around nearly as long as Cooperative Extension. South Carolina 4-H Youth Development uses a learn-by-doing approach to help youth gain the knowledge and skills to be responsible, productive and contributing members of society. This mission is accomplished by creating safe and inclusive learning environments, the involvement of caring adults, and utilizing the expertise and resources of Clemson University and the nationwide land-grant university system. The Henderson Interpretive Pollinator (HIP) garden project will enable 4-H youth to participate in the development, presentation, construction and on-going maintenance of the project. 4-H members, as implementation partners, will support and maintain the pollinator habitat as an ongoing community service project.

Conestee Nature Park logo with fish and salamander

CNP is a 650-acre wildlife sanctuary just south of downtown Greenville in the Upstate of South Carolina. Director of Education at CNP Sarah Whitmire believes that “through responsible stewardship of the region’s unique ecological resources, CNP provides inclusive opportunities for meaningful connection, discovery and learning in nature. The HIP garden project will provide a self-led educational experience in the largest meadow ecosystem within CNP. The plants that will be used in the plot will echo those that CNP has planted in the adjacent meadow. That meadow is used for several environmental education field trips as well as for large fundraising events for the Preserve. This project serves as an example of how people can use native plantings in their own yards to benefit native wildlife species. CNP is always looking for ways to get the next generation invested in this piece of land and in ecological conservation as a whole.”

The Bee Cause Project logo

Emilee Elingburg is The Bee Cause Project’s director of educational programs. She says she is excited about this collaboration because it “inspires the next generation of environmental stewards while protecting our planet’s precious pollinators. We offer a variety of grants to schools and non-profit organizations across the U.S., Canada, and beyond. Through Honey Bee Grants, Pollinator Literacy Grants and Pollinator Habitat Grants, this organization strengthens the connection that participants share with pollinators and enable curious minds to thrive. All of our grants include equipment and resources, providing a STEAM-based curriculum that brings the natural world into the classroom.”

Hnederson meadow at Conestee Nature Park Greenville,SC
Henderson Meadow at Conestee Nature Preserve, Greenville,SC
Photo credit: Jill Kreiman

This project helps The Bee Cause Project fulfill its mission by providing the expansion/enhancement of an outdoor space that will support soil science, entomology, plant science and pollinator habitat curricula and provides a community outreach and educational component that will not only serve the local community and schools but also will be designed to serve as an interpretive space for other Bee Cause grant recipients to learn from.

This incredible partnership will benefit our shared environmental community by highlighting the ways we can collectively support the native pollinating species of South Carolina. The Bee Cause intends to support this initiative with a three-year renewal grant. The investment we make in the HIP Garden is truly an investment in the future of South Carolina and our planet.



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