But pollinator gardens at Walt Disney World won ’ t be enough for the East Coast monarch . These determined insects fly up to 3,000 miles to get to their wintering sites each year , and Walt Disney World makes up only 43 square miles of their journey . These monarchs depend on rest stops all across the United States during their migration . And increasingly , that means they need people like you and me to help them out by planting our own pollinator gardens . Rafiki ’ s Planet Watch at Animal Kingdom has an example that guests can emulate at home .
“ We want it to look like if you wanted to have a pollinator garden at home , what should it look like ?” Dr . Zak said of Rafiki ’ s . “ And there ’ s a few tips and tricks that can make your pollinator garden so much more effective than your standard ornamental garden .”
Chief among those ? “ Diversity begets diversity ,” explained Dr . Zak . “ Have a diversity of flowers . Have different colors , sizes , seasonality , and you ’ re going to be able to provide resources to those pollinators year-round . Flowers are basically living billboards . They ’ re advertisements ; bees and butterflies see them and smell them and want to go feed on them . So step one , put some flowering plants in whenever possible . Stop by a native nursery , and find some flowering plants they would recommend for where you call home . Then see what shows up ; there are some really easy ID nature guides , like Seek by iNaturalist , so you can identify the butterflies that show up . And once you know what butterflies are in your area , go find the right host plant and put those in the ground .
“ Don ’ t be afraid of flowering trees ,” Dr . Zak added . “ Oak trees are wonderful resources for the leaves . Lots of moths eat the leaves , and then birds eat the caterpillars .”
Dr . Zak offered one final bit of advice : “ Be realistic with what space you have , and find plants that are a good match . If your soil is always super wet and gets flooded , don ’ t get those dryloving plants . If you live in an area where the houses are really close to each other , find some more shade-tolerant plants . And if you live in a high-rise , you ’ re not left out of the fun : You can make windowsill gardens , and the bees and butterflies will find you — even up on a skyscraper .”
Butterflies and other important pollinators are vulnerable in today ’ s world , but they won ’ t go down without a fight . Together , with the Daniels Lab at the University of Florida and the Disney Conservation Fund , Dr . Zak and his team are working to protect dozens of species of butterflies through efforts such as habitat restoration and breed-and-release programs .
Dr . Zak reflected on some of the work Disney has done for butterflies such as the monarch , Miami blue , and , of course , the once-thought-extinct Atala . And with a smile , he shared one final story of hope :
“ Honestly , when I saw the first pictures coming back of kids holding and releasing [ Atala ] butterflies that we had raised in a habitat that we had restored , and they ’ re there looking eye to eye with this beautiful species that we thought we had lost to extinction , I get choked up thinking about it . It was such a meaningful moment for the butterflies — and for those kids .”
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY
Monarch butterfly populations have dropped dramatically ; Walt Disney World is part of the efforts to protect them . PHOTO BY LAURIE SAPP