National Pollinator Week kicked off June 17.

It’s a weeklong celebration of the small creatures responsible for a third of all agricultural output in the U.S., according to the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Pennsylvania.

The Lehigh Gap Nature Center is planning to bring attention to pollinators this Saturday, with its annual Celebration of Pollinators.

“A lot of these insects are in decline,” Chad Schwartz, director of science and education at Lehigh Gap Nature Center, said. “They’re losing habitat, there are issues with pesticides.

“These animals are disappearing,” he said.

According to a study published in the Biological Conservation — a peer-reviewed biology journal — earlier this year, 40% of all insect species are in decline and facing extinction.

The event is one of the center’s few full-day affairs hosted each year, Schwartz said. Festivities start at 9 a.m. with a bird walk, followed by a butterfly and bug walk at 10 a.m. and noon. There will also be crafts, exhibits, displays and a native plant sale.

“We hope that by drawing attention to these creatures, and by making people aware of their importance — and that they actually exist — (people) will care a lot more about protecting them,” Schwartz said.