BASF Charlotte

About the Program
With over 100 sites in North America, BASF Corporation has committed to environmental stewardship and sustainable practices at every site location. The Charlotte, North Carolina, site is home to their North American headquarters for their dispersions and resins business, which includes commercial, sales, development and technical support teams. The two sites are situated in a commercial and industrial area, yet they are also near local creeks and within a couple miles of nature preserves and Lake Wylie of the Catawba River. In 2021, the local teams planted multiple pollinator gardens and began monitoring them as part of their corporate commitment to native pollinators. 

Practices and Impacts

• Both the Steel Creek Garden project and the Westinghouse Garden project were planted with 94% native plants. The flora community was researched extensively in order to provide food and habitat for native pollinators over their entire active period in the region. The plants are monitored for survival and blooming periods. Adaptive management is used to combat pests without using insecticides.
• The two pollinator gardens are monitored frequently every year. Staff recorded over 60 observation periods between the two gardens in just the first blooming season, documenting the presence of several pollinator species, other insects, birds and mammals. Their milkweed plantings successfully attracted monarch butterflies, and all monarch life stages were observed in the inaugural year.
• The two sites also provide shelter for bluebirds and monitor nests throughout the year.