Two Forsyth women have been honored for their efforts to preserve butterflies and other pollinators such as bees, moths and hummingbirds. Lynn Pugh and Carrie Toth were recently recognized by Monarchs Across Georgia through the organization’s pollinator habitat certification program. The program was begun in 2005 in an effort to promote conservation, the restoration of native plants, and to provide residents an opportunity to reconnect with the natural environment. Pugh and Toth both received certification from the organization, while Pugh, owner of Cane Creek Farm in west Forsyth, also received grant funding to create more pollinator habitats on the farm property. Toth, who works at the Sawnee Mountain Preserve Visitor Center, was honored for beginning a pollinator garden at the preserve, 4075 Spot Road.“It’s open to the public, so anyone is welcome to come and see it,” she said. The center is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Monarchs Across Georgia, an initiative of the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia, works with teachers, students, families, communities and businesses to study Monarch butterflies and restore butterfly habitats across the state. With a decline of the monarch caterpillar’s only host plant, milkweed, the group decided to create the certification program as a way to further encourage gardeners to incorporate milkweed into their landscapes. Besides incorporating milkweed, habitat certification holders must also provide additional caterpillar and adult pollinator nectar food sources, water, “basking sites,” and some type of shelter such as shrubs, logs or brush piles. Susan Meyers, Monarchs Across Georgia co-chairwoman, praised Pugh and Toth.“They have successfully demonstrated their commitment to environmental stewardship and increasing native diversity for all pollinators,” she said in a statement.