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ENC Groups Partner To Protect Pollinators

UNC Institute of Marine Sciences

It's summer-time, the flowers are in bloom and butterflies and bees are doing what they’ve always done.  But there’s been a decline in their numbers here in North Carolina and around the United States.  A new federal plan aims to reverse trend with an “all hands on deck” approach. Sarah Finch has more.

It’s all the buzz at the Whitehouse! The President's Executive Summary from May 19th states, “Preventing continued losses of our country’s pollinators requires immediate national attention, as pollinators play a critical role in maintaining diverse ecosystems and supporting agricultural production.”

The most popular species at risk is the Honeybee. The total number of managed honey bee colonies in the U.S. has decreased from 5 million in the 1940s to only 2.5 million today. According to Professor of Entomology and Extension Apiculturist Dr. David Tarpy, bee population has been under siege from a number of factors for several decades.

“Every single year we get calls saying, hey the beekeeper that I contracted with backed out, because their overwintering loss was a lot higher than expected. I desperately need some bees, where can I find some?”

Scientists say honeybees have been hurt by a combination of declining nutrition, disease, habitat loss, pesticides and a lack of foraging plants. US Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist John Ann Shearer says that all wildlife species are potential indicators of the health of our environment; if they suddenly decline, then we may have a problem.

“A lot of those empty fields open meadow habitats that we’ve traditionally had across our state, have become shopping malls, and housing developments and roads.”

Pollinators, most often honey bees, are responsible for one in every three bites of food we take, and increase our nation’s crop values each year by more than 15 billion dollars.

Dr. Tarpy points out that if you eat fruits, nuts or vegetables, you should thank a honeybee, but you shouldn’t treat this decline as a crisis.

“To say that without bees we wouldn’t have any food that is a bit of an overstatement. Things like wheat and corn are wind pollinated, we would certainly have a lot of the staple crops that we have today. But the things that we would be missing from our diet are all the fun things, like fruits and vegetables and nuts, all of the healthy things. And so if it weren’t for honey bees, really all we’d be left with is gruel.”

Appropriately named Plan Bee, this recent Presidential Mandate advocates spending $82.5 million dollars on research, restoring 7 million acres of land into more bee-friendly habitat, and considering the use of fewer pesticides.

Credit UNC Institute of Marine Sciences

Understanding that the government cannot act alone in promoting pollinator protection, Obama also identified the need for public-private partnerships. While our nation is a mosaic of land uses and ownerships, pollinating animals do not recognize human-drawn boundaries. Therefore, no single organization, Federal or private, can independently accomplish this mission.

John Ann Shearer is also the State Coordinator for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in North Carolina. She agrees with the “all hands on deck” approach.

“We believe no matter what you do on public lands, it’s not going to be enough if we don’t have private involvement. So we’ve tried to involve private land owners. And we do have several projects in Eastern North Carolina that are already underway.”

Over a dozen projects from the mountains to the coast are making progress under the Fish & Wildlife Service’s Motto “One acre at a time”. Shearer explains that one good action for the habitat benefits all of the pollinator species that are declining. The federal plan also focuses on bringing back native plants like milk-weed, which provide nesting grounds and food for Monarch butterfly eggs.

“Just as soon as the president signed a memorandum creating a federal strategy to promote bees and pollinators, we received some funding through the Fish & Wildlife Service to work with land-owners who could immediately start getting milk-weed in the ground.”

Establishing community Butterfly Gardens provide additional habitat and environmental education. Participating organizations include the NC Coastal Federation, in Newport; the Nature Conservancy in Nags Head and the Epiphany School for Global Studies in New Bern.

Partnering with the NC Coastal Land Trust further extended the funds and support into Eastern North Carolina. With a broad vision to enrich our coastal communities, North Carolina Coastal Land Trust Deputy Director Janice Allen says they like to conserve the special places that people love on the coast.

Their most interesting project took place in Onslow County along Everett’s Creek nature preserve, next to the Betty Dixon elementary school. Acquiring land immediately adjacent to the school allowed students to take part in a planting day on May 27th.

“So they not only got to play in the dirt, plant some plants, but they got to experience how to solve a real world problem, which is how do we help our monarch butterflies and other pollinators.”

Six hundred plants in 12 different varieties went in the ground from the combined efforts of students, teachers, interns and other volunteers. Since then, the local Boys and Girls Club has visited to water the plants. Apart from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, other agencies and foundations played an integral role in this particular project, including MCCS Camp LeJeune, the State Clean Water Management Trust Fund, and Duke Progress.

This concept of little efforts making a big difference is being echoed around the State. Dr. Tarpy says even the most unseemly places can become prime locations for pollinator projects.

“So I think there’s just a tremendous amount of opportunity;  habitat plantings and buffer zones, as well as things like roadsides where we can start utilizing that landscape to help bolster these different bee populations. NC Dept of Transportation, NC Dept of Agriculture, the Farm bureau, different grower groups, everybody is very much on board.”

Here in North Carolina, we have many avid groups that actively support pollinator efforts. Our State boasts the largest Beekeeper Association with over 500 members. The Cooperative Extension has an important role to help spread awareness and educate the public on these issues. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the North Carolina State University have created a webpage called Bee Linked in an effort to bring together farmers in need of bee pollination services and beekeepers who have honey bee colonies for rent.

Overall, the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators is a plan that engages people all the way from federal agencies to citizens. It focuses on both immediate and long-term changes that can be made to improve the well-being of pollinator species and restore populations to healthy levels.

Jared Brumbaugh is the Assistant General Manager for Public Radio East. An Eastern North Carolina native, Jared began his professional public radio career at Public Radio East while he was a student at Craven Community College earning his degree in Electronics Engineering Technology. During his 15+ years at Public Radio East, he has served as an award-winning journalist, producer, and on-air host. When not at the station, Jared enjoys hiking, traveling, and honing his culinary skills.