Pollinator Week 2023

Welcome to Pollinator Week! Join us for a celebration of the spring abundance of our local bees, butterflies, and beetles through land stewardship, art, and community science for all ages. There's something for everyone, whether you'd like to help maintain healthy homes for our native pollinators, learn more about monarch health, write a pollinator poem, or contribute to a community science project to help scientists learn more about our local bees and which flowers they like best. We're excited to see you in the park this spring!

When: Saturday April 22nd, 2023–Sunday April 30th, 2023

Where: Event locations vary throughout the GGNRA. See below for more details and view park closure information.

Registration: Scroll down to browse project options and to register. Registration is required (except for the the self-guided Pollinator Discovery Tour).

VOLUNTEER PROJECTS

Tuesday, April 11th–Sunday, April 30th (on-going):

• Pollinator Discovery Tour (self-guided)
  (Community Science, Wildflowers)
  Help the park learn more about which plants provide the best support to our native pollinators by joining a nationwide community science project. It's easy and fun to participate–fill out an observation card at our Pollinator Discovery Areas to observe pollinators in action and let us know what you find! Click here for Pollinator Discover Tour locations where you can get involved!

Saturday, April 22nd

• 9 am–Noon, Tamalpais Bee Lab–Sky Oaks Watershed Headquarters (Marin)–Register Here
  (Community Science)
  One Tam is continuing our efforts to monitor and understand more about Mt. Tamalpais’ wild bees and other pollinators. This work stems from One Tam's Peak Health effort to understand the health of Mt. Tam's natural resources, where we saw we needed to learn more about the region's pollinators. Community science volunteers play a critical role in this study by pinning, sorting, and labeling specimens collected from the field. Join us to connect with the One Tam community of staff and volunteers, learn more about Mt. Tam’s wild pollinators, and gain skills in scientific collections management and insect identification!

Sunday, April 23rd

• 9:30 am–2:30 pm, Habitat Restoration Team–Morning Sun Trail (Marin)–Register Here
  (Stewardship, Wildflowers)
  In observation of GGNRA’s Pollinator Week, please join us for a day of stewardship and education at the highest point of Rodeo Valley! We will spend the morning pulling invasive species such as French broom and the afternoon learning about (and observing!) bees, butterflies, and other insects of the Headlands.

Tuesday, April 25th

• 10 am–2 pm, Habitat Restoration Team–Tennessee Valley (Marin)–Register Here
  (Stewardship, Guided Nature Tour, Wildflowers)
  In this program, join NPS staff in exploring pollinators in the coastal prairie of Tennessee Valley along the Old Springs Trail. After an educational activity, jump in to help restore and protect this critical ecosystem by removing invasive plants.

Thursday, April 27th

• 2–5 pm, Black Point Historic Gardens–Fort Mason (San Francisco)–Register Here
  (Stewardship, Wildflowers)
  Join us at Black Point historic gardens to help steward our growing pollinator habitat. With the continued restoration of this long-forgotten hillside garden, we've seen our beloved community of native birds and pollinators return in high numbers! Bring your binoculars if you'd like, or borrow one of ours, and spend the day getting to know some of our most charismatic pollinators and the plants that support them in the GGNRA.

Friday, April 28th

• 9 am–Noon, Black Point Historic Gardens–Fort Mason (San Francisco)–Register Here
  (Stewardship, Art, Wildflowers)
  Please join us at the Black Point historic gardens for a day of land stewardship, pollinators, and poetry! We'll spend time maintaining our native wildflower gardens, a pollinator haven, and explore the ways poetry intersects with and is inspired by nature. If you have a favorite poem, or poetry of your own, please feel welcome to bring it along to share.

Saturday, April 29th

• 10 am–Noon, Bumble Bee Atlas Training–Register Here
  (Community Science)
  Take a walk with us! Join a community science collaboration between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation to find out more about California's native bumble bees while collecting data to help conserve declining species. Volunteers will learn to catch and handle bumble bees, practice photographing them, and collecting habitat data. Register for the project and sign up here for the free, volunary field training event to be held at the Sky Oaks Watershed Headquarters.

GROUPS

Groups of five or more require special arrangements and must be confirmed in advance. Please review the List of Available Projects and fill out the Group Project Request Form.

COVID-specific Guidelines

• Stay home and DO NOT attend if you:
  • Have any illness symptoms
  • Have tested positive for COVID-19
  • Suspect you have had contact with a COVID-19 positive case
• Face coverings and social distancing are encouraged, but not required.

The Golden Gate National Parks Volunteer Program is a cooperative parkwide effort of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service, and the Presidio Trust.

UPCOMING EVENTS