Vernon residents are encouraged to plant flowers and other pollinators no matter where they live

Anyone can help create a pollinator pathway.

It can be as simple as putting out a few flower boxes on an apartment patio to planting more flowers in your yard.

Pollinator pathways are a pesticide-free corridor of native plants that provides nutrition and habitat for pollinators.

Vernon urban bee keeper Dawn Tucker said everyone is encouraged to plant pollinators which will benefit the environment and those living in it.

“Pollinator pathways are great way for residents to get involved in helping out pollinators,” said Tucker, who has been active in bee keeping for several years.

But it is not just bees that benefit from flowers.

Tucker said pollinators also include beetles, birds, bats, butterflies and a variety of other critters that make up the Okanagan ecosystem.

“We are looking at a variety of different species. We encourage people to look at what they are planting so that pollinators have places to go,” she said.

Pollinator pathways can be grown in the city centre, which will not only help pollinators, but also add a splash of colour to a concrete landscape.

“It's really important that we pressure local governments to put in pollinator pathways,” she said.

“Road right of ways and beside roadways are good places to implement pollinator pathways. There is a lot of unused space and we all need to do this to help our environment because pollinators are a great asset and an asset we don't want to loose.”

The City of Vernon recently provided the Sustainable Environmental Network Society (SENS) with a $1,000 grant to promote pollinator pathways.

More information on the pathways can be found on the SENS Facebook page and website.