Gardens for pollinators, smart spaces for cities

Learn from J. Cruz García about the benefits and importance of pollinator gardens in the urban environment, in his article Gardens for pollinators, smart spaces for cities.

A garden is a habitable and enjoyable space for humans and other living beings. It is usually valued from an aesthetic perspective, but it also has functional, cultural, economic and environmental implications. From this last aspect, pollinator gardens in cities function as suppliers of ecosystem services, making them naturally intelligent or “smart” spaces.

From a technocratic perspective, a garden is conceived from its design to the technification and automation of its management and maintenance; however, reference will be made here to the ecosystem services that these oases offer in the face of increasing urban development to achieve greater conservation of pollinators and contribute to food security and economic revaluation of production.

Pollinator gardens in cities function as suppliers of ecosystem services, making them naturally intelligent or “smart” spaces.

It is expected that by 2050 there will be 9.7 billion people inhabiting the planet (United Nations Population Fund, 2024). This population explosion will inevitably result in people becoming disconnected from nature. From an environmental justice perspective, Sustainable Development Goal 11, target 11.7, recommends the provision of green areas and safe, inclusive and accessible public spaces for people living in cities (UN, 2015). On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends having 9 to 12 m2 of green area per inhabitant in a city, considering this as any surface covered by natural or induced vegetation located in urban areas.

Jardín Santuario Poliniza / Santuario Poliniza Garden

Fotografía / Photography: J. Cruz García Albarado

This is where the importance of pollinator gardens in a city lies, because they are spaces that allow satisfying some basic human needs, from the most elemental, such as the production of oxygen, to positive effects on people’s mental health, as well as serving as habitats for those responsible for the pollination process, which in turn move to agricultural places to guarantee food security. It has been estimated that 70% of human food crops depend on these pollinating agents (ENCUSP, 2021).

The pollination process is an essential environmental service in all natural and agricultural terrestrial ecosystems; this consists of the transfer of pollen between the male and female parts of flowers to enable fertilization and as a result their reproduction. It has been estimated that 90% of the world’s flowering species (more than 300,000) are pollinated by animals (Fukase and Simons, 2016; ENCUSP, 2021), such as bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, moths and beetles, hummingbirds, bats and some reptiles. It is noteworthy that bees are the largest group of pollinators, exceeding 20,000 species. In addition, a bee can visit up to seven thousand flowers per day; incredibly, it would have to make 7 million floral visits to produce one kilogram of honey.

Jardín Oasis de las flores / Flower Oasis Garden

Fotografía / Photography: J. Cruz García Albarado

There are several ecosystem services that these flower oases can offer in cities. Among these, the trees and shrubs in a garden lower the temperature by up to five degrees Celsius, in addition to providing habitats for nesting and food for pollinators. Gardens are spaces for the conservation of plant and animal biodiversity. In them, environments of tranquility and calm are produced, by absorbing, diverting and refracting sound through the foliage, creating barriers to the noise of the city bustle, in addition to attracting birds that add a pleasant chorus of natural sounds.

Bebedero en Santuario Poliniza / Watering trough in Santuario Poliniza

Fotografía / Photography: J. Cruz García Albarado

In landscape perception studies, it has been found that people identify benefits not only from the physical (such as decreased respiratory diseases) but also contributes positively to their mental health. Stress is reduced by being in contact with an aesthetically pleasing and relaxing garden, because a connection is created between people and the natural environment, which is called Biophilia. Therefore, a garden provides those positive effects on people’s psyche, and more so in such stressful environments as large cities. Also, these spaces function as biological corridors; birds and pollinators in general find routes that allow them to move from one site to another.

Although urbanization has been shown to contribute to the decline of pollinators, programs have been developed to promote the implementation of pollinator-friendly gardens (Fukase and Simons, 2016). Such is the case in Mexico where the National Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators (ENCUSP) has been implemented, through which the conservation and sustainable use of these beings is promoted to ensure the country’s food security and sovereignty.

Plantación naturalista atrayente de polinizadores / Naturalistic planting that attracts pollinators

Fotografía / Photography:
J. Cruz García Albarado

It is through Network 6 Gardens and Orchards for Pollinators that actions have been developed to implement this instrument to promote the conservation of pollinators and in turn impact local crops or those near cities. El Colegio de Postgraduados (COLPOS) has actively participated since 2022 by establishing at least five pollinator gardens in the State of Veracruz, two in ecotourism centers, two more on the Córdoba Campus of COLPOS and another in a private garden in Fortín, Veracruz.

In conclusion, the intelligence of pollinator gardens lies in the fact that they provide solutions to many of the social, environmental and economic problems faced by cities. While they are not a panacea for every urban ill, their proper management can contribute significantly to solving many of these problems and creating healthy environments, thus improving the quality of life in the city and in agricultural growing spaces.

The intelligence of pollinator gardens lies in the fact that they provide solutions to many of the social, environmental and economic problems faced by cities.