Community Profile

Pledge Status

Active

Pledge Date

Monday, March 10, 2025

Program Year

2025

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Action Item Report

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Township of King

King Township , ON

Steve Pellegrini

Mayor

Pledge Summary

The Township of King is one of the nine municipalities that form the Regional Municipality of York, encompassing a total area of 339 square kilometers. Renowned for its breathtaking landscapes and picturesque countryside, King is situated within the Greenbelt and the Oak Ridges Moraine, holding significant natural and ecological value. The municipality is dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of pollinator and monarch butterfly habitats. This commitment is demonstrated through various initiatives, including the planting of native wildflowers, the distribution of wildflower and milkweed seeds, and the organization of free educational workshops. Additionally, the township has implemented signage to raise awareness, supports citizen science monitoring programs, and offers nature-based education to the community. By participating in the Mayors' Monarch Pledge, the Township of King aligns its efforts with municipal priorities and bolsters its Environmental Stewardship initiatives. These initiatives are focused on educating and engaging residents while enhancing habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinators throughout the municipality.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2025

Communications and Convening

  • Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)
  • Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
  • Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.
  • Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters , other long-standing and influential community leaders) to support monarch butterfly conservation.
  • Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
  • Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.
  • Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
  • Launch or maintain an outdoor education program(s) (e.g., at schools, after-school programs, community centers and groups) that builds awareness and creates habitat by engaging students, educators, and the community in planting native milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Schoolyard Habitats program and Monarch Mission curriculum).
  • Earn or maintain recognition for being a wildlife-friendly city by participating in other wildlife and habitat conservation efforts (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program).
  • Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
  • Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.

Systems Change

  • Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats.
  • Increase the percentage of native plants, shrubs and trees that must be used in city landscaping ordinances and encourage use of milkweed, where appropriate.
  • Integrate monarch butterfly conservation into the city’s Park Master Plan, Sustainability Plan, Climate Resiliency Plan or other city plans.
  • Launch, expand, or continue one or more ordinances to reduce light pollution to benefit urban wildlife.