This Saturday, celebrate pollinators at Entergy's Party for the Planet: Pollination Celebration at Audubon Insectarium and Woldenberg Riverfront Park. The event will run from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Some of the smallest animals on the planet are the most important. Pollinators like bees, butterflies, and birds play critical roles in our environment’s health. These amazing animals pollinate our crops, add beauty and diversity to our world, and make up the largest group of animals on the planet.
Pollinator species pollinate over 90% of the planet's flowering plants and one third of the human diet. While many people think of bees as the only pollinators, beetles, butterflies, birds, bats, and other small mammals are also in this category. Pollinators can be very diverse, but the prevalence of many populations is declining due to habitat loss from urban development, pollution, chemical misuse, and climate change. With these threats, pollinators are losing the food and nesting sites they need to survive.
Part of the Party for the Planet sponsored by Entergy: Pollination Celebration features ways for guests to learn about pollinators, how to attract them, and what we can do to take care of them so they will continue doing their jobs for our environment.
Entry to the event is included with Insectarium Admission or Audubon Membership and includes participation from community partners to educate guests about conservation efforts underway in our community:
· Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
· New Orleans Beekeepers – Jay Martin
· Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
· New Orleans Mosquito, Termite, and Rodent Control Board
· STEM NOLA
· The Beetle Experience
· Krewe des Fleurs
· Paperdoll Productions
The site of the Pollination Celebration is Woldenberg Riverfront Park which was recently named the second most popular riverfront park in the country in USA Today’s Reader’s Choice poll. The park features more than 12 different planted areas, many with concentrations of native and pollinator plants.
Pollination Celebration and other events in the Party for the Planet conservation series is supported by Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund, which directs $1 million annually to environmental improvement projects.
A visit to an Audubon Nature Institute attraction is a first step in taking positive action to learn about and protect the environment. Audubon joins many other Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoos and aquariums across North America in throwing a Party for the Planet, making it the largest combined Earth Day, Endangered Species Day, and World Oceans Day celebration. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums spend $230 million on field conservation alone, supporting projects benefiting more than 800 species in 130 countries. To date, the AZA Conservation Grants Fund has provided $7.7 million in support for 400+ projects worldwide.
