Hello! My name is Erin Krauss and I am currently completing an externship with the Sierra Club’s Maryland Chapter through the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Student Coalition.
Last night I had the exciting opportunity to attend a virtual screening of the award-winning short film Pollinators Under Pressure.
The film, created by Tree Media and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, discusses the essential role pollinators like birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals, and bees play in sustaining our environment.
By helping plants reproduce, pollinators serve as the foundation of our food chain and ecosystem. As the planet continues to react to the harmful consequences of climate change, these pollinators and their vital contributions to the food chain are being threatened by loss of habitat.
The film emphasizes the importance of developing legislation to protect these creatures while showcasing the natural beauty of these pollinators performing their jobs. The film reminds us “by protecting pollinators and restoring their habitat we protect their future, and our own.”
“By protecting pollinators and restoring their habitat
we protect their future, and our own.”
-Pollinators Under Pressure
Following the film’s completion, Sierra Club's Sonia Demiray moderated a discussion between Lily Fountain, Chair of the Maryland Sierra Club Natural Places Committee, and Jenny Brown, Environmental Educator and Garden Outreach Lead with the Audubon Naturalist Society. Lily and Jenny commented on the film’s effective call to action which inspires its audience to take action within their own communities to protect their local pollinators.
The discussion focused on Maryland’s pollinators and highlighted the important functions honeybees and monarch butterflies play in improving the health of the environment while supporting the state’s agricultural industries.
For these reasons and more, the Maryland Sierra Club supports the movement to appreciate and protect our beloved pollinators. If you would like to learn more about the need to protect pollinators, you can watch Pollinators Under Pressure for free at www.Pollinatorsunderpressure.org.