SUNVIEW POLLINATOR CORRIDOR St. Charles Michigan
HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO; LOVE THE EARTH AND THE SUN AND THE ANIMALS
Walt Whitman
WELCOME TO
MY WEBSITE
I'm John Dusek. I am a student at Oregon State University doing a horticultural restoration project as a course requirement while seeking my degree. My area of interest is environmental damage caused by mankinds relentless drive to acquire resources, ecological stress created by our normal interactions with nature in the places where we work and live, and the knowledge and tools provided by horticultural science to create a balance between the needs of humans and the health of natural systems. Earths current rate of extinction is 1000 times faster than natures design driven primarily by habitat loss. In the last 50 years the earths vertebrate population has fallen by 52%. In 2016 the United Nations reported that 40% of invertebrate pollinators FACE EXTINCTION, driven by the forces of global climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, parasites and disease. 75% of the worlds food crops depend on pollination from at least one species of pollinator. The diverse challenges facing pollinators combined with the alarming rate of biodiversity loss has lead many in the scientific community to believe we have entered the sixth period of mass extinction. Despite overwhelming evidence, many deny environmental issues exist.
And the men who hold high places,
Must be the ones who start,
To mold a new reality,
Closer to the heart.
The blacksmith and the artist,
reflect it in their art,
They forged the creativity,
Closer to the heart.
Philosophers and ploughmen,
each must know his part.
To sow a new mentality,
Closer to the heart.
You can be the captain,
And draw lines upon the chart.
Sailing into destiny,
Closer to the heart - Rush
​
WE DON'T HAVE TO TELL THE NEXT
GENERATION WE'RE SORRY--- PLEASE CLICK THE VIDEO BELOW
Please browse this site to learn how you can help our local pollinator population by participating in the Sunview Pollinator Corridor
CITIZEN SCIENTISTS
Together it is possible to change the course of declining environmental quality​, but it requires the actions of many to produce sustainable long term benefits. This project is the result of numerous e-mails, research, phone interviews, and practical knowledge of the land and people in the community of St. Charles Michigan. As a businessman and member of the community I have gained incredible insight in the residents respect of the natural surroundings, the concern in environmental issues, and the willingness of many in the community to address environmental problems and take corrective actions. This website serves two purposes. First it is a prediction, hypothesizing that it is possible to create a situation that allows pollinating insects to move freely between areas of natural habitat through a residential neighborhood. If the hypothesis is supported with data it is my goal to adapt this model to urban and intercity ecological restoration projects in Michigan. The second and most important part is YOU! This is a call to members of the community to participate in a environmental research project based on the ideas expressed within these pages. A few specific plants and a small amount of observation is all that is required to become a citizen scientist. Your contribution is an important part of the model and will demonstrate to other communities that basic environmental stewardship throughout a population can have significant ecological benefits to a community. In designing this project I focused on the Sunview /Woodlawn residential neighborhood because this area would allow an accurate study by comparing results from two very similar locations, with Sunview being the test group and Woodlawn being a neutral group used for comparison. There are many more areas in our community where this model can be applied.... it really only requires a small amount of collaboration between neighbors.
