Community Profile

Pledge Status

Active

Pledge Date

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Program Year

2026

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Action Item Report

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Village of Ardsley

Ardsley, NY

Steve Edelstein

Mayor

Pledge Summary

The Village of Ardsley is located in Westchester County, New York and has a population of ~5,000 residents. The Village is committed to and has already taken many actions to help the monarch butterfly including increasing public awareness of the issue, creating native gardens for pollinators, and encouraging residents to build gardens for monarchs. The Village has launched the Ardsley Pollinator Pathway Project to help save endangered pollinators and birds. The Village is aware of the importance of saving monarchs and other pollinators and believes that encouraging the expansion of native plantings will not only benefit monarchs but all native species, as well as providing natural and beautiful spaces for Village residents. Ardsley earned the Leadership Circle Achievement for the National Wildlife Federation's Mayors Monarch Pledge in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. The Village is proud to support our beloved monarch butterflies.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2026

Communications and Convening

  • Issue a proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. This proclamation must incorporate a focus on monarch conservation.
  • 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.
  • Create a community-driven educational conservation strategy, initiative, or practice that focuses on and benefits local, underserved residents.

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.
  • 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.
  • Host or support a monarch butterfly festival that is accessible to all residents in the community and promotes monarch and pollinator conservation, as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
  • Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.

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.
  • Launch, expand, or continue an effort to change municipal planting ordinances and practices to include more native milkweed and native nectar producing plants at city properties.