Environmental Sustainability Committee (Bee City Committee)
On Friday, February 24, 2023, the City of Mountain Brook became the first municipal Bee City USA affiliate in Alabama, joining the two Bee Campus USA affiliates, Auburn University and University of Alabama at Birmingham. Research has shown significant declines in native pollinator population sizes and ranges globally with up to 40% of pollinator species on earth at risk of extinction in the coming years as a result of habitat loss, the use of harmful pesticides, and climate change. Thinking globally and acting locally, Bee City USA provides a framework for communities to work together to conserve native pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and reducing the use of pesticides. Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA are initiatives of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
As part of the City's affiliate program a dedicated native plant pollinator/teaching garden has been installed along the Tibbett Street side of City Hall (come by and have a sit!), and has created an abundant native habitat resource section on the City's website, MBee, AL (take a gander!).
For more information about Mountain Brook’s Bee City USA program, contact Dana Hazen, Director of Planning, Building, and Sustainability at hazend@mtnbrook.org.
For more information about Bee City USA, visit https://www.beecityusa.org/
For more information about the Xerces Society, visit https://xerces.org/