MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KRON) — Mountain View is rolling out a welcome mat of flowers for monarch butterflies.
The city’s mayor announced Monday that several acres will be transformed into havens for the fluttering insects.
Mountain View is planting new pollinator habitats around the Shoreline At Mountain View to help the colorful orange, black, and white creatures thrive.
Monarch migrate through Northern California every fall and winter. They depend on certain native plants for food and reproducing.
Funding for the project was provided by a $30,000 grant from tech giant Google, headquartered in Mountain View.
“This grant builds on Google’s broader $1-million commitment to restore and enhance hundreds of acres of habitat for monarchs and other pollinators across California, including on our own campuses,” said Erin Beller, an ecology program manager at Google.
Mountain View will use the funding for developing three pollinator habitats on 7.7 acres at Shoreline:
- Phase 1 will be a 1/2 acre site within the 9-acre North East Meadowland area.
- Phase 2 will include two areas: a 2.7 acre site near Pond 1 at Shoreline Golf Links and a 4.5 acre site near Pond 2 on the golf course.
The butterfly habitats are expected to be completed in 2022.
“We’re grateful for the City of Mountain View’s partnership and the local ecology experts and community groups that are helping us create beautiful, biodiverse, and accessible nature,” Beller said.
The Google grant also supports the city’s community outreach efforts, such as providing the public with seeds through the “Seed Library.”