Bee City USA® Renews MU’s Certification

Mizzou Botanic Garden (MUBG) is pleased to announce that Bee City USA® has renewed the University of Missouri’s Bee Campus USA certification for 2020.

MUBG’s ongoing efforts to enhance pollinator habitat both on and off-campus, and the diligent work of a committee led by horticulture manager Jenna Rozum, undertook the rigorous renewal application process, paving the way for this recertification. Original certification was granted in 2017.

Habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change have led to declining pollinator populations around the world. Bee Campus USA, an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, brings campus communities together to sustain pollinators by creating and enhancing habitat, reducing pesticide use and spreading awareness. Pollinators including bees, butterflies, moths, bats and hummingbirds are responsible for the reproduction of 85 percent of the world's flowering plants and more than two-thirds of the world’s crop species. Our lives are intricately entwined with the success of pollinators.

“Mizzou Botanic Garden takes to heart the importance of sustaining pollinators and incorporates that commitment into our daily design and maintenance of the MU campus,” said MUBG Director Pete Millier. “I commend my staff and members of the recertification committee for the impressive pollinator conservation work completed last year and their dedicated efforts to complete the recertification process.”

The entire MU campus was designated a botanic garden in 1999.

The Bee Campus USA program endorses a set of commitments, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators. College students, faculty, administrators and staff have long been among the nation's most stalwart champions for sustainable environmental practices. In 2020, fully 99 campuses across the country have been certified as Bee Campuses, up from 16 when MU was first certified.

“Anyone can get involved in pollinator support by including plants that provide nectar and pollen-rich resources for all sorts of pollinators to their home landscapes,” Rozum said.

MUBG has produced a “Pollinators at Mizzou” booklet as a basic introduction on the topic. Suitable for use with children, a pdf of the book is available on the MUBG website.

An MUBG partner organization, Missouri Prairie Foundation, oversees Grow Native!, its native plant marketing and education program. Many resources to help plan and plant a landscape or garden using native plants that will attract and sustain pollinators are available on their website.

For more information about the nationwide work of Bee City USA visit www.beecityusa.org.