About Mass Pollinator Network

Our Mission

Native Pollinators face many challenges, from habitat loss to pesticides, but there is a groundswell of public interest in protecting their populations and the ecosystem services they provide. The mission of the Massachusetts Pollinator Network (MAPN) is to expand pollinator habitat and reduce the use of pesticides through the creation of a statewide network that connects and supports the growing number of individuals, communities, organizations, and research groups working to protect pollination systems across the Commonwealth.

Toward these broader objectives, MAPN will:

  • Strengthen existing partnerships and facilitate new collaborations to accomplish shared goals;
  • Provide the public, including activists and advocates, with the resources they need to succeed in their efforts;
  • Promote native plants, especially those needed by at-risk native pollinators;
  • Work with professionals in plant cultivation, landscaping, and nurseries to increase the availability of native plants;
  • Advocate for local, state, and national policy reforms that protect and enhance biodiversity, including critical pesticide reform legislation;
  • Engage in public education and outreach to raise awareness about the individual and collective actions that will promote healthy and diverse pollinator populations.

Together, we will protect and expand pollinator habitats and reduce the use of biocides in landscapes across the Commonwealth!

Our Team

Renée Scott, NOFA/Mass Pollinator Network Network Coordinator; Co-Founder, Green & Open Somerville

Our programming and activities are guided by a steering committee and an advisory council comprised of community leaders and professional conservationists and land managers from across the state.

Our steering committee members are:

  • Amy Meltzer, Co-Chair, Mass Pollinator Network; Elders Climate Action Research Team and Natural Solutions working group, MA Chapter (Cambridge & Goshen)
  • Anna Hanchett, Chair, Plainfield Agricultural Commission, Plainfield Tree Alliance;
  • Brucie Moulton, Sustainable Arlington, Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways
  • Heidi Dollard, Co-Chair, Mass Pollinator Network, Western Massachusetts Master Gardener
  • Kim DeAndrade, Medford Trees, Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways
  • Vivian Orlowski, Great Barrington Agricultural Commission, Housatonic Heritage Operation Pollination 

Our advisory council members are:

  • Amy Pulley, Principal, Wing and a Prayer Nursery
  • Anne O’Connor, Bee Friendly Williamstown
  • Charlie Wyman, Lexington Living Landscapes
  • Cynthia Grippaldi, Berkshire Conservation District
  • Dan Jaffe Wilder, Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Elizabeth Erickson, Greening Greenfield
  • Ellen Anderson, Petersham Pollinator Protection Campaign
  • Evan Abramson, Principal, Landscape Interactions
  • Gary Bowden, Pollinator Pathways Cape Cod
  • Larri Cochran, Board of Directors Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, Northampton Community Garden Committee
  • Nicole Marcotte, Mass Audubon Conservation Restriction Stewardship Specialist
  • Peggy MacLeod, Co-Founder, Western Mass Pollinator Networks
  • Rosemary Malfi, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (Salem, MA)

Contact

To get in touch with the pollinator coordinator or any committee or council member, please email pollinatorcoordinator@nofamass.org

History

In 2016 Peggy MacLeod was inspired by a “Pollinator Friendly Habitat” sign on a chance visit to a native plant garden in Asheville NC. Understanding its importance, Peggy returned to Northampton and joined forces with Amy Pulley to start the Western Massachusetts Pollinator Network (WMAPN). Eighteen enthusiastic pollinator advocates contributed a spontaneous flow of ideas and actions at the first meeting, and the organization was born.  

WMAPN blossomed into a robust local movement that built interconnected pollinator habitat yard by yard and community and community, including seven municipal “anchor” plantings as the core of a city-wide pollinator pathway. They also organized a ninety-person sustainable landscaping symposia, for municipal and university personnel. 

As the organization grew, and requests for information increased from all over Massachusetts, they realized they needed more resources than a solely-volunteer organization can provide. In June 2021, WMAPN partnered with the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA/Mass) and relaunched as the Massachusetts Pollinator Network (MAPN). MAPN is now headed by a professional Network Coordinator and the network has expanded its reach to all of Massachusetts.

Group Map

This map displays community groups and conservation organizations across the state that are focused on improving pollinator health. Also displayed are towns that have passed pollinator-friendly resolutions and related local policies. Don’t see your group on the map? Let us know!