HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Henrico County's Department of Public Works is transforming regularly mowed areas into thriving habitats for pollinators as part of a multi-year enhancement project.
The initiative aims to support native plants and insects while reducing maintenance costs across the county.
"To come out and witness an area where there was just standard grass, very limited number of insects, to get something like what's behind me here, where you can hardly walk in without getting inundated with insects, is great," said Wes Robertson, Environmental Vector Management Specialist.
The county has established pollinator zones in each district, converting areas along roads, rivers, and former residential and agricultural lands into natural habitats.
"This used to be a residential home here, and this actually used to be an agricultural field," Robertson said.
The project aligns with Henrico's broader environmental commitment to restore ecosystems that may have been affected by development.
"We're also going to increase the ability for our native plants to come back stronger, and to help fight things like invasives that may be entering areas, and things like that," Robertson said.
The benefits extend beyond plant life to the entire ecosystem.
"They can also contribute to the food web, of course, so there's going to be things that eat it, bringing more birds into the area, helping with sustain the migratory pathways for those birds," Robertson explained.
County crews are surveying each site to monitor wildlife and plant growth throughout the study period. This surveillance includes managing non-native species that might threaten the new habitats.
Nearly a year into the project, the designated areas are flourishing with wildflowers and insect activity.
"These flowering flies, beetles, we have a lot of what are known as hemiptera, which are also true bugs that come in to actually not just get on the flowers, but feed on the organisms that are in there taking nectar. There's going to be a large percentage of arachnids or spiders in here too that are good for generalized insects," Robertson said.
WATCH: How Henrico is transforming mowed areas into thriving pollinator habitats
Robertson acknowledges that not everyone appreciates insects but emphasizes their ecological importance.
"There's a lot of those folks out there, but we also have to have a respect for them and realize that they serve a place within our ecosystem and in our environment. And in that regard, we can, even if you respect them from afar, you can realize that this is a really good thing that we're undertaking here," Robertson said.
The Department of Public Works is looking to expand the four-year pilot program by seeking approval from the Board of Supervisors for additional properties.
"This is one of the major ways we feel like we can contribute to that," Robertson said.
The early results have exceeded expectations, according to Robertson.
"We're realizing that it's working, and it's working a lot faster than we thought it would, as far as attracting more insects," Robertson said.
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This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
