Community Profile

Pledge Status

Active

Pledge Date

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Program Year

2024

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Action Item Report

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Village of Valley Stream

Valley Stream, NY

Edwin Fare

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Valley Stream is a village just outside of New York City with a population of about 40,000. The Village is on the south shore of Long Island and is home to over 100 acres of park space in addition to a State park. Mayor Fare is passionate about our environment and understands the importance of the monarch butterfly and other pollinators to our ecosystem. The signing of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge is a commitment with our residents to educate, engage and be active in building more pollinator habitat throughout our Village.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2024

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.
  • Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.
  • Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition.

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
  • Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
  • Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.