Butterfly Gardening/Re-Green Volusia

The Re-Green Volusia project is an on-going program to replant trees in public parks, schools, day care centers, libraries and county owned common lands in order to build community support throughout Volusia County for restoring and preserving our shrinking urban forest. Future plans for Re-Green projects include doing plantings at Habitat for

Humanity homes, and for helping to extend the project into Flagler County.

The Re-Green Volusia project promotes community partnerships to plant, care for and preserve urban trees in order to enhance and maintain community livability. The project emphasizes the urban forest as the mosaic of the planted landscape blended with the remnant native forests left behind as our urban areas rapidly developed. The goal of the project is to communicate to residents and visitors alike that the health of this forest contributes to both the environmental and economic well being of our communities and state.

The EnviroNet Re-Green Volusia project involves citizens in action - oriented efforts to protect and enhance Florida’s urban forests and encourages environmentally responsible actions by civic leaders and elected officials through EnviroNet’s cooperative partnership. The project further encourages and supports the creation and continuation of other urban forestry projects throughout Volusia County and the Northern Coastal Basin region while maximizing the efficiency of federal/state funds through local cost-sharing.

The Westside Elementary School Butterfly Garden is an on-going project that began three years ago as a cooperative effort with the elementary school. Students in the science club installed a butterfly garden along one side of the school’s library building. This year staff went back and did maintenance on the original garden and conducted a follow-up lesson on butterflies for the science club students.

Following that event plans were made to install another garden on the other side of the library building. Then science club students with the help of Soil and Conservation District and Environmental Management staff measured, tilled and raked clear the area to be planted. The actual planting of shrubs and flowers necessary to butterfly and other pollinator survival was then undertaken. The result has been an enthusiastic group of children involved in an active Science Club project that has also taught them valuable lessons on the ecology of their schoolyard.