The Monarch Joint Venture is excited to welcome the Pizzo Group, an ecological restoration group based in Leland, Illinois, to the MJV partnership.
The Pizzo Group, with the monarch butterfly as its logo, recognizes the importance of preserving habitat for monarchs and other pollinators. The organization was founded in 1988 based on a passion for the preservation and restoration of natural ecosystems.
The Pizzo Group is made up of a collection of companies that includes both Pizzo & Associates, Ltd., an ecological restoration company that completes projects across mostly Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as a native plant nursery in Leland.
The organization believes, just as the Monarch Joint Venture does, that pollinator protection requires all hands on deck. With this in mind, the organization is currently producing about 2 million neonicotinoid-free native plants from over 400 species annually, in addition to its work putting these plants in the ground to restore habitat from small-scale projects to large-scale efforts. Their portfolio includes projects of about an acre to projects reaching upwards of 100 acres, including work with schools, healthcare systems, HOAs, and corporations.
In Leland, the group’s on-site prairie and wetland restoration, along with this nursery, provide the public with an opportunity to see habitat restoration in action. The Pizzo Group hopes that a partnership with the Monarch Joint Venture and other like-minded organizations will help them connect with and inspire a broader audience for the conservation of the natural world.
Pizzo & Associates, Ltd. has years of experience with invasive species control and removal, erosion control, prescribed fire, and site monitoring, with over 15 field crews spread across four locations. We’re excited to welcome their expertise to the MJV partnership, and we’re looking forward to seeing what they continue to accomplish in their habitat restoration efforts across the Midwest and beyond.
For more information about Pizzo Group, please visit https://werestorenature.com/.
The Monarch Joint Venture is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and a national partner network of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses, and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration. The content in this article does not necessarily reflect the positions of all Monarch Joint Venture partners. Photo courtesy of Pizzo Group.