Kingswood meadow aims to preserve endangered monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies are now classified as an endangered species.

But a Nova Scotia woman is doing her part to save the beautiful creatures from a terrible fate.

Donna Evers is the brains behind the Kingswood meadow, which sits on the corner of Brenda Drive and Sime Court in the community of Kingswood in Hammonds Plains, N.S

When Evers’ husband could no longer cut the hay field he maintained for 25 years, the couple asked the Halifax Regional Municipality if they could create a pollinator meadow.

Not only did HRM accept their request, it also footed the bill, contributing a quarter-acre of new soil on the land.

“We were gifted over 2,000 plants,” Evers said, including a truckload from local nurseries and donations from the Nova Scotia Community College’s Kingstech campus in Kentville, N.S.

For gardening expert Niki Jabbour, more community projects like the Kingswood meadow are needed across the city, province, and ultimately, across Canada.

“A lot of us now are really taking climate change seriously and a lot of native bees are at risk,” Jabbour explained. “So putting in a diverse garden like this is a great way to support lots of different types of native bees, as well as moths and different species of butterflies including the monarchs, and then, of course, even birds.”

Evers has spent the week protecting monarch butterfly eggs, doing her part to lift the species from the endangered list.

“You can see this miracle happen,” Evers says. “It will leave an imprint on you and you will think differently about nature.”