Northeast Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course

Northeast Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course

Summary

Pollinators are essential to our environment. The ecological service they provide is necessary for more than two-thirds of the world’s crop species.  Despite this, the essential service of pollination is at risk. Habitat loss, as well as pesticide use, has contributed to recent pollinator declines.

Extensive research now demonstrates, however, that protecting or restoring natural habitat on farms is the best way to conserve native pollinators and, at the same time, provide resources that support local honey bees.

In response, the current Farm Bill offers specific support for the creation and protection of wildflower plantings and pollinator nest sites through USDA conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and others.

At the national level, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has developed guidelines on how to provide pollinator habitat on working farms, but the knowledge to implement these habitat enhancements has not been cultivated at the field office level or among partner agencies and farm educators. This lack of knowledge represents a key constraint to the wider adoption of pollinator conservation.

To overcome that barrier, this project is making in-depth pollinator conservation training available to NRCS conservationists, Soil and Water Conservation District farm planners, Cooperative Extension personnel, state departments of agriculture and natural resources, crop consultants, non-governmental conservation organizations, and the growers of bee-pollinated crops.

This training consists of a full-day Short Course on basic pollinator biology, basic native bee field identification, bee-friendly farm management practices, designing and implementing habitat enhancements, and how to use NRCS programs for pollinator conservation. The Short Course is being offered in all twelve Northeastern SARE states with collaboration by multiple partner organizations, including academic institutions, Cooperative Extension, the NRCS and others.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Courses will enable 240 farm educators and conservation agency staff to directly support at least 484 farmers in adapting farm practices for pollinator conservation on 24,000 acres of land and to assist at least 60 of those farmers with enrollment in NRCS administered conservation programs.

Accomplishments/Milestones

During the reporting period for Grant ENE10-117, we conducted an additional Short Course in Kingston, Rhode Island which was attended by 25 people. Due to the overwhelming interest in the region for additional trainings, we used leveraged funds to provide additional trainings to meet the demand. With funding from NRCS and a grant from the Specialty Crop Research Institute, we held an additional course in Kingston, Rhode Island (attended by 32 people) and in State College, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the 2013 International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy (attended by 94 people). The primary audiences at all of these events were staff from the NRCS, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and Extension, as well as a number of individual farmers, researchers, master gardeners, naturalists, and beekeepers. Also, due to the overwhelming demand for these trainings, we are also in the process of planning additional courses in New York and New Hampshire for winter/spring 2014.

During the reporting period we also conducted a one-year post course survey for all Short Course attendees from 2012.

Specific accomplishments for ENE10-117 include:

Rhode Island
On September 23, 2013, we conducted a Short Course at the University of Rhode Island East Farm in Kingston, Rhode Island. We targeted the NRCS staff in RI, MA, and CT, as well as conservation partners at the Soil and Water Conservation Service, Cooperative Extension, local nonprofits, and farmers for this training.

Twenty-five people were in attendance, including three NRCS and Conservation District Staff from Rhode Island. Participants included people from NRCS, Conservation Districts, Cooperative Extension, Farmers, master gardeners, landscape architects, local nonprofits, and conservation agency staff.

Gary Casabona, State Biologist with the Rhode Island NRCS spoke to attendees about Farm Bill programs for pollinator conservation and specific conservation objectives for Rhode Island.

As part of this and other Short Course sessions, we conducted an in-depth field-based habitat assessment training. Other highlights of the tour included an in-field native wildflower and pollinator identification session and a tour of demonstration cover cropping systems that are integrating pollinator conservation practices.

Short Courses supported through other funding from the USDA

Rhode Island

On September 12th, 2013, we held a short course at the University of Rhode Island East Farm in Kingston, Rhode Island. We targeted the NRCS staff in RI, MA, and CT, as well as conservation partners at the Soil and Water Conservation Service, Cooperative Extension, local nonprofits, and farmers for this training.

Thirty-two people attended this Short Course, including five NRCS and Conservation District Staff from Rhode Island. Participants also included people from local nonprofits, land trusts, farmers, University researchers, and conservation agency staff.

Gary Casabona, State Biologist with the Rhode Island NRCS spoke to attendees about Farm Bill programs for pollinator conservation and specific conservation objectives for Rhode Island.

As part of this and other Short Course sessions, we conducted an in-depth field-based habitat assessment training. Other highlights of the tour included an in-field native wildflower and pollinator identification session and a tour of demonstration cover cropping systems that are integrating pollinator conservation practices.

Pennsylvania

On August 14, 2013, we held a Short Course at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the 2013 International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy. We targeted the NRCS staff in RI, MA, and CT, as well as conservation partners at the Soil and Water Conservation Service, Cooperative Extension, local nonprofits, farmers, and Conference attendees for this training.

Thirty-two people attended this Short Course, including fourteen NRCS and Conservation District Staff from Pennsylvania. Participants also included people from local nonprofits, land trusts, farmers, University researchers, and conservation agency staff.

David Biddinger, Tree Fruit Research Entomologist at Penn State University was a guest speaker at the Short Course and provided a presentation about his research.

As part of this and other Short Course sessions, we conducted an in-depth field-based habitat assessment training. Other highlights of the tour included an in-field native wildflower and pollinator identification session and a tour of demonstration cover cropping systems that are integrating pollinator conservation practices.

• Pollinator Training 2 – Rhode Island
• Pollinator Training – Rhode Island
• Pollinator Training 3 – Rhode Island

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

To date, more than 215 people participated in the Short Course in 2010, 221 people participated in 2011, 257 people participated in 2012, and 25 people participated in 2013 (our overall performance target was 240, so we have greatly exceeded that goal). Through separate funding from the NRCS, an additional 119 people participated in the Short Course in 2012 and 126 in 2013.

In addition, we continue to raise awareness among farm educators about pollinators in a way that is directly affecting their work. Specifically, based upon post event questionnaires, 86% of Extension educators and NRCS staff participants said that the Short Course changed how they would advise farmers on management practices to support pollinators, and 96% of participants said they planned to incorporate pollinator conservation into their own outreach efforts.

While the Short Course specifically targets farm educators and farm agency staff, a number of farmers attended each event. Among them, 91% said that attending the Short Course changed how they would support pollinators on their farms, with 64% of farmers reporting that they plan on creating more farm habitat for native bees. Twenty-seven percent of those participating farmers reported that they plan on providing new pollinator habitat specifically through USDA administered conservation programs.

We also give a one-year post course follow up survey to gauge how past participants are using the information gained from the Short Course. In 2013, we surveyed 234 Short Course attendees from courses in 2012 and received a 26% response rate.

In the year since participants attended the Short Course, 99% of respondents reported that they had utilized the information they learned at the training. Participants utilized the information in the following ways: in education and outreach programs to their peers (79%), providing additional habitat (56%), incorporated pollinator conservation practices into their land management systems (41%), considered pesticide impacts on pollinators (39%), included pollinator conservation information in written publications (37%), assisted others (farmer-peers) in implementing pollinator conservation practices (35%), enrolled, encouraged, or assisted with enrollment in NRCS conservation programs (28%), and adjusted land management practices to benefit pollinators (21%).

These results indicate that we were highly successful in our initial project objectives: to provide a train-the-trainer approach to expanding pollinator conservation efforts, facilitating the installation of additional habitat on the ground, and encouraging enrollment in NRCS and FSA Farm Bill conservation programs.

Finally, specific feedback from Short Course participants is consistently and overwhelming positive. Examples of specific comments include:

“This was a great overview. Very informative. Thank you!”  – Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania

“Very informative. The speakers (Kelly & Gary) are very knowledgeable & did an excellent job sharing the information.” – Master gardener, Providence, Rhode Island

“Learning about establishing native plants for pollinators. Yes – fulfilled! Outstanding workshop!” – Massachusetts Agriculture in the classroom, Providence, Rhode Island

“I was hoping to learn more about specific ways to increase pollinator habitats – this course was very well done and very informative :)” – Environmental Educator, Kingston, Rhode Island

“I wanted more information + education and I received it! Kelly Gill was fantastic and answered our questions!” – Educator, Kingston, Rhode Island

“Very impressed, well worth the time, unlike so many seminars today!” – Landscape designer, Kingston, Rhode Island

“I was expecting to learn basic information about conserving pollinators and preserving their habitat. All of my expectations were fulfilled. It was a great training!!!” – Agricultural support staff, Kingston, Rhode Island

No major challenges have arisen during the reporting period. One factor that we have now addressed is our organizational capacity. Each Short Course that we conduct inevitably results in a flood of additional workshop requests, as well as follow-up inquiries for farm-specific technical support. We believe that this response reflects the quality of the training that we offer. To help meet these many requests for specific project support, we reduced our target number of Short Courses from five to four in 2011, but due to new staff hires, we were able to increase our target number of Short Courses in 2012 to five—reaching all Northeast SARE states, as well as providing greater post-training support for Short Course participants.

The second unanticipated challenge we have faced is a larger than expected interest in Short Course enrollment. This overwhelmingly positive response to our work has been the most validating endorsement of pollinator conservation possible. In our proposal, we budgeted for a maximum of 30 participants at each event (based upon previous experience outside the Northeast region). The actual number of registrants has far exceeded that anticipated target at every event, but we have been able to accommodate many more participants with funds leveraged from additional sources.

Collaborators: