Community Profile

City of Tempe

Tempe, AZ

Corey Woods

Mayor

Pledge Summary

The city of Tempe, Arizona acknowledges the important role pollinators play in maintaining biodiversity, supporting local food systems, and guarding ecological resilience. The city is an innovative urban hub in the Phoenix Metro Area, and is committed to integrating pollinator-friendly landscapes across public spaces, parks, and urban corridors. Through future-thinking policies and community-driven initiatives, Tempe is installing Sonoran-native vegetation that support Monarch and other butterflies, bees, and other pollinator species. Efforts include expanding rainwater harvesting coupled with desert plantings, collaboration with other city departments, and encouraging residents and businesses to plant milkweed and nectar-rich flora. By embracing conservation as a key element of its sustainability vision, Tempe is not only safeguarding monarchs and pollinators but also fostering a healthier, more vibrant urban environment for generations to come.

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 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 Homeowners Associations (HOAs), Community Associations or neighborhood organizations to identify opportunities to plant monarch gardens and revise maintenance and mowing programs.
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.
Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants along roadsides, medians, or public rights-of-way.
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).
Initiate or support community science (or citizen science) efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health.

Systems Change ▸

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.

Past Pledge Archive

Mayor Name	Program Year	Pledge Date	Achievement
Mayor Corey Woods	2026	3/23/2026		View Pledge
Mayor Corey Woods	2025	4/22/2025	Signatories	View Pledge
Mayor Corey Woods	2024	4/17/2024	Signatories	View Pledge

Pledge Status

Pledge Date

Program Year

Links and Uploads

Action Item Report