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The group started with eight people and expanded to twenty in the first year.
In 2024, three Warren County residents, Michelle St. Andre, Jennifer Correa-Kruegel, and Clairanne Arcaro, were part of the Rutgers Environmental Steward (RES) class. Each had her own independent project establishing native gardens in Knowlton, Belvidere, and Allamuchy, respectively, but they worked closely together as a team to ensure the success of all. As the projects progressed, they realized that there needed to be a way to maintain these spaces so they would be vibrant for years to come. Thus, the Warren County Pollinator Protectors (WCPP) was born.
The group started with eight people committing to meeting monthly at one of six locations throughout the county. The group would weed, feed, and help to establish gardens in other settings, including a school, a historic building, a local town-owned Green Acres property, a county building, an overgrown trail, and a town park. All of these projects required the removal of invasive species, such as mugwort, sharing plants from established gardens, and, most importantly, having fun. The group was having so much fun that it attracted the attention of others who joined to help, expanding the group to twenty in the first year. Everyone was able to contribute in their own way, whether by contributing expertise in landscape design, donating materials, providing manual labor, brainstorming ideas, or providing skills in designing a website where information and pictures were posted for each of the projects.
As knowledge of the group grew, they were asked to assist with other projects, including a Girl Scout Gold Award project, library landscaping, and public space spruce-ups. There are currently 16 active projects. Last winter, in response to a gift of materials and supplies made to the group in memoriam and looking for an outlet for its energies as spring approached, the group took on a maple sugaring project. They worked with a local kindergarten class to tap, collect, and process sap into maple syrup. The efforts culminated in a demonstration and pancake breakfast. This winter, the group will be demonstrating winter-planting in containers as well as using lessons learned from last winter to extend the maple sugaring to include a second-grade class.
For more information on the WCPP, please visit https://www.wcnj-pollinatorprotectors. com/.