In May 2024, Consul General Susan Harper joined April Allen, President of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, and officials from the City of Dallas and local environmental organizations to announce the launch of a new pollinator garden sponsored by the Consulate General of Canada in Dallas. The announcement heralds a significant milestone in the Consulate General’s conservation efforts. Set to bloom next spring, the garden is the third pollinator project sponsored by the Canadian mission in Dallas, as a part of ongoing efforts to promote biodiversity in North America. The other two installations are located in the Waterloo Greenway of Central Park, Austin (2022), and the North American Friendship Garden within Confluence Park, San Antonio (2021).
The unveiling of the Dallas pollinator garden took place during a beautiful spring day of community engagement. Consul General Susan Harper and Consul Foreign Policy Manager Noëlla De Maina announced the project alongside April Allen, President & CEO
Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, during a co-sponsored event organized by the Dallas Zoo’s Prairie Plant Propagation Center and the Texas Conservation Alliance, where Oak Cliff residents and families participated in a vegetable garden workday and produce giveaway.
The Consulate General’s new pollinator garden is placed the Southern Gateway Park, a five-acre “park with a purpose” scheduled for completion in 2025 in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Oak Cliff was formed by freed slaves who created the community along the historic Tenth Street of Dallas after the Civil War. Today, Oak Cliff encompasses a large area of many mini neighborhoods that have a rich culture and history, marked by historic boulevards and theaters, and locally driven and artistic atmosphere.
Southern Gateway Park is part of an environmental initiative led by a public-private partnership between the city of Dallas and the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation. Recognized for its significance, the park received bipartisan support, with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg highlighting it during his visit to Dallas on April 4, 2024, as one of four local projects awarded funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Consulate General’s investment in a new pollinator garden in Oak Cliff and Dallas underscores Canada’s commitment to the important role green spaces play in fostering sustainability and resilience within urban landscapes.