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The coronavirus has changed the world in ways most of us were not
expecting; I don’t need to further emphasize its importance and
consequences, immediate and future. And yet, climate change
continues, and all of those challenges remain. Among everything else
tied to climate change, the conservation of pollinator species and
the plants they are even more closely tied to also remain in flux.
Protecting Pollinators, by Jodi Helmer, is a practical and readable
book that covers the issues pollinators face, why they’re
important, and what we can do. She explains that they are more than
just honeybees and almonds, Monarch butterflies and milkweed, which
get the same proportion of attention here as elsewhere. Native bees
and other insects, along with hummingbirds and bats are also given
their due. Helmer explains, in multiple ways, why native plants are
the best choice, and why pesticides can be so detrimental, putting
them in context from at-home to larger agricultural scales. The last
chapter especially goes into citizen science, and may be the most
encouraging portion for readers. While the book is not so much about
food, it doesn’t need to be. This book is a concise review of the
small animals that work for us, without which we wouldn’t have any
food. When these issues are properly taken into consideration, we can
hope for better health of the systems that produce our food. And even
from home, there are ways we citizens can contribute to conservation
efforts.
Thanks go to IslandPress for providing this book in exchange for a review.
