Pollinator Pathways
Pollinator Pathway is a volunteer organization working to create continuous corridors of pollinator-friendly habitat as part of Homegrown National Park. A powerful tool for building a community pathway and linking it to others is to use the citizen science iNaturalist app as an organizing platform. When you plant a pollinator garden (whether a large meadow or a small container) or add native trees and shrubs to your residence, business property, or public space, take a picture of the plant or the wildlife it's attracting and submit your observations to the appropriate Pollinator Pathway on iNaturalist (see below for detailed instructions on how to get started). See the pathway grow, examine what you and your neighbors are planting, and catalog the bees, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife your plants have attracted. Watch the Plantscapes presentation "Creating Pollinator Pathways" for a demonstration and examples.
How to Get Started
Join an existing Pollinator Pathway, as below:
In the iNaturalist search box, enter the name of the Pollinator Pathway (e.g. Ledyard CT Pollinator Pathway) and click on "about".
In the About box on the project page, click on "Join".
Add some observations of native plants, pollinators, and other wildlife to your account using the smartphone app or upload to the desktop version from a folder of picture files.
Under the "Projects" heading in each observation, type in the name of the appropriate Pollinator Pathway (after the first entry, the pathway name will automatically be listed in a Project pulldown menu). You can also add annotations to the observation, select/delete/reorder pictures, and make other modifications using the "Edit" button.
Create an iNaturalist project to track pollinator plants or other wildlife on your property or in your favorite park or nature preserve.
Follow your projects by going to the iNaturalist search box and entering the name of the pathway (bookmark the project page for easier access next time) or just go to the account profile tab in the menu bar and select "Projects".
Become an active member of the project, post to its Journal, and enjoy the wonders of exploration and discovery!
Register with Homegrown National Park and get on the map!
If your town does not yet have a Pollinator Pathway on iNaturalist, create a new pollinator pathway by becoming its administrator. Please email tim@plantscapesne.com with the name of your pollinator pathway, and we'll add it to the list above.