2025 Reports

Pollinator Protection in a Master Planned Community

Wolch, Jennifer; Houston, Donna; Gonzalez, Maria Fernanda

Baseline is a new master planned mixed-use community near Denver, Colorado, developed by McWhinney. Slated for 9,000 homes, a town center, schools, and commercial industrial uses, Baseline will also be the new home of Butterfly Pavilion, the first Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited non-profit invertebrate zoo in the world. Pollinator protection in the face of climate change is central to Baseline’s plan, which features pollinator-friendly public landscapes. The community will implement Butterfly Pavilion’s innovative “pollinator district” certification strategy that requires land use-specific environmental management, community engagement, and governance practices to support pollinator populations and biodiversity. Longitudinal assessments of pollinator population size and diversity will be important to understanding the impacts of Baseline’s targeted biodiversity protection strategy.