Pollinator Conservation Short Course

Pollinator Conservation Short Course

Summary

We are providing a Pollinator Conservation Short Course in all Southern states for more than 300 staff from the NRCS, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Certified Crop Advisors, the FSA, and Extension personnel.

This Course provides real solutions to the decline of crop pollinators. Research demonstrates that native bees make a significant contribution to crop pollination—in some cases providing all pollination when enough habitat is available. To address this need for habitat, the 2008 Farm Bill makes pollinators a priority of USDA conservation programs.

Each Course provides an overview of basic pollinator biology, bee identification, farm practices that support pollinators, habitat management guidelines, and how to implement pollinator conservation programs authorized in the Farm Bill.

This is the first training to support Southern producers of bee-pollinated crops (blueberry, peach, citrus, cotton, cucumber, and watermelon). A recent NRCS survey documented that farmers want to conserve pollinators but need technical assistance to do so. This course helps create that expertise.

The Xerces Society is the oldest pollinator conservation organization in the U.S. and is ideally positioned to carry out this project, having already conducted this training in many other states with the support of farmers, local researchers, and habitat restoration specialists.

Project success is being measured through a number of quantitative and qualitative metrics. Based upon extensive experience, we know that each Course participant goes on to positively influence at least 100 acres of farmland for pollinators and other wildlife.

Finally, this project supports a new pollinator handbook published by SARE.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course will be offered over two years, with six Courses conducted in the first year, seven in the second year, and follow-up evaluations and ongoing support offered beyond project completion (using leveraged funds).

Accomplishments/Milestones

From August 2011 – March 2012, we conducted the following Short Courses or presentations:
– On August 16, 2011, Xerces staff presented two talks at the Southern SARE Leadership Council Meeting in Austin, Texas for 100 attendees. One presentation was to the state PDP coordinators, and the other talk was the luncheon keynote address to the entire Southern SARE leadership and advisory council
– On November 15, 2011, Xerces staff presented a Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension in Mills River, North Carolina. 15 extension and agency personnel attended the training.

The primary audiences at 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. Xerces has 6 Short Courses planned for May and June 2012.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

We continue to experience great success with our existing outreach efforts and saw a rapidly rising interest in the conservation of native pollinators. We believe the reason for this interest is both due to the ongoing plight of managed and native pollinators, as well as the fact that bee conservation provides an accessible framework for achieving other conservation objectives.

Through this project, we continue to impact the way that farm educators incorporate pollinator conservation into their work. Specifically, based upon post event questionnaires for 2011 nationwide, 91% of participants said that the Short Course changed how they would advise farmers on management practices to support pollinators. Among those reporting, 67% plan on recommending pesticide reduction or pesticide mitigation strategies to the farmers they work with. Most of those same educators (66%) reported that they will work with farmers to identify tillage reduction strategies to protect ground-nesting bees and recommend the conservation of other nesting habitat on farms. Finally, 77% of farm educators will recommend supplementing non-crop areas with native pollen and nectar resources to support pollinators and other beneficial insects.

While the Short Course specifically targets farm educators and farm agency staff, a number of farmers attended each event. Among them, 98% said that attending the Short Course changed how they would support pollinators on their farms. Of these, 83% reported that they will look for opportunities to supplement non-crop areas with additional pollen and nectar resources. Twenty-two of the farmers who participated report that they will apply for financial and technical support in creating more pollinator habitat through USDA conservation programs. Several farmers attending already are enrolled in such programs and will use the information gained from the training to help them implement those existing projects. Finally, specific feedback from Short Course participants is consistently and overwhelming positive.

No negative unplanned challenges have arisen during the reporting period. Our ability to organize and deliver Short Courses continues to be strong. The single 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. However, it has resulted in an over-extension of staff resources. In our proposal, we budgeted for a maximum of 30 participants at each event (based upon previous experience outside the region). The actual number of registrants has exceeded that anticipated target at nearly every event, but we have been able to accommodate many more participants with funds leveraged from additional sources. Because of our commitment to pollinator conservation as a framework for bridging the needs of wildlife with the needs of sustainable agriculture, we are actively exploring additional opportunities to expand our outreach and technical support capacities.

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