Lavonia Elementary Receives DNR Grant for Pollinator Garden

Lavonia Elementary School has once again received a grant to continue its work on their pollinator garden.

Last week, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced the six recipients of the Georgia Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund grant.

The grant is capped at $3,000 and Lavonia Elementary School received the full amount.

DNR Spokesman Rick Lavender says the grant is designed to improve public opportunities to see and learn about native animals, plants, and habitats across the State.

“The grants program, funded by the Georgia Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund, helps develop and enhance wildlife viewing options, with an emphasis on State Wildlife Action Plan species and habitats,” said DNR spokesman Rick Lavender. “Georgia’s Wildlife Action Plan is a comprehensive strategy to conserve these creatures and places before they become rarer and costlier to conserve or restore.”

He said the Lavonia Elementary garden project fits in with the State Wildlife Action Plan.

Barbara Payne is the volunteer coordinator for what has been named Betty’s Garden at Lavonia Elementary School. Begun in 2020, she said the garden is a pollinator garden designed to teach children and adults about the importance of providing the right habitat for pollinators.

“Betty’s Garden is a designated “Wildlife Viewing Site” for the DNR, which showcases milkweed, the only plant that a monarch will lay eggs on. Females will lay up to 400 eggs in the wild, on one milkweed leaf at a time,” she explained. “Therefore, monarchs are desperate to find milkweed that is now gone from roadsides and farm edges…It has been scientifically proven that when planting for monarchs, other native insects benefit as well. And, it has been proven that when working on restoring habitat in communities, people come together for the greater good. This is a project that can involve everybody. Plants can be established in plastic tubs or beautifully designed landscapes. Simple or not so simple.”

Last year, students at Lavonia Elementary School planted vegetables and flowers in their pollinator garden.

Students planted four growing beds with seeds that demonstrate the relationships between pollinators and food.

Payne said we are losing pollinators due to urban growth and pollution. So, it’s important people understand how to provide spaces for pollinator habitats.

Pollinator insects, such as bees and butterflies, are also important according to Payne because they help keep Georgia’s agriculture industry going.