 Monarch butterflies, bees and other pollinator species play an important role in our ecosystem. With the number of butterflies and bees down, the City of Bemidji is taking a number of actions to help increase the butterfly and bee populations. With help from the Bemidji Gardening Club, the first of three pollinator gardens was planted today. Each garden features various perennial plants that will naturally return on their own each year. These gardens are a way to encourage residents to plant their own gardens which include plants native to the area that will help support pollinators. These demonstration gardens kind of just promote the idea to the community so that they can see what they look like. We'll put some signage in there and our hope would be that people would then look at their own gardens and their own property and start planting more gardens that you know really attract the pollinators and help them be sustainable. The gardens are located at the Bemidji Public Library, North Country Park, and Lincoln Elementary School. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.