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Symposium Home Pollinator Friendly Practices
Pollinators, almost all of which are insects, are indispensable partners for an estimated 1 out of every 3 mouthfuls of food, spices and condiments we eat and the beverages we drink. Insect pollinators, including honey bees, pollinate products amounting to $20 billion annually in the U.S. alone. Nearly 80% of our world's crop plants require pollination. Pollination is vital to our survival and the existence of nearly all ecosystems on earth. 80% of the world's crop plants depend on pollination. Birds, bees, butterflies, but also beetles, mosquitoes, and even bats transfer pollen between seed plants. This function is vital for plant reproduction. Whether you have only a small backyard or an entire corporate campus to manage, you can play a vital role in pollinator conservation through simple, small steps. The Wildlife Habitat Council and North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) celebrate Pollinator Friendly Practices and challenge others to get involved. This year, WHC presents the first Pollinator Breakfast, sponsored by Waste Management, Inc. Attendees will sample foods brought to us by pollinators, including honey from various floral sources around the country and globe, including cactus honey, Kenyan honey and more. Recently, Waste Management, announced an environmental initiative to increase the value of the company’s services to its customers while benefiting the environment. As part of the company's goals, Waste Management plans to increase by more than four times the number of facilities – from 24 to 100 – certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council, and increase the number of acres set aside for conservation and wildlife habitat to approximately 25,000. Greg Cekander, Vice President, Environmental Management Group, Waste Management, will discuss the company's sustainability initiatives and commitment to conservation. Continuing the breakfast program, Laurie Davies-Adams, Executive Director, Coevolution Institute, will present the 2007 NAPPC WHC Pollinator Protection Award. The recipient is chosen each year from the pool of sites that apply for recognition with WHC as a Pollinator Friendly Program. The recognition is offered for certified WHC sites that implement specific land management practices to promote pollinator populations. WHC would like to thank the following companies for providing their honey samples:
Kinder Morgan Promotes The Value of Green Our changing atmosphere has emerged as the single, dominant environmental issue of the 21st century and has now reached a tipping point with citizens across the country and around the world. This new awareness has caused society to look to the private and nonprofit sectors for leadership and solutions.
Forests play a critical role by sequestering or storing large quantities of carbon as they grow. Photosynthesis and respiration are the essential machinery by which forests store and release carbon. As a tree grows, it absorbs carbon from the air and, through the process of photosynthesis, uses solar energy to store carbon in its roots, stems, branches and foliage. Thanks to sponsorship by Kinder Morgan, WHC will address the ecological footprint generated by its upcoming Annual Symposium. Through Go Zero, The Conservation Fund will calculate the carbon dioxide emissions produced by the meeting facilities and transportation, and then offset the carbon contribution by planting trees. In 2006, WHC offset the hotel facility usage through a generous contribution by The Conservation Fund, which resulted in the planting of over 250 trees in Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge located in southeast Louisiana on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Planting trees is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to sequester carbon. As they grow, trees absorb carbon dioxide. Kinder Morgan will calculate the emissions of the Lakewood Campus outside of Denver, Colorado, and work with its employees to plant trees in partnership with local schools and USDA Forest Service sites. In addition, Kinder Morgan employees will have the opportunity to protect and create pollinator habitat at the Lakewood Campus and through community schoolyard naturalization. WHC Annual Symposium attendees can also voluntarily calculate their emissions online with the Carbon Zero Calculator to estimate and offset emissions through a few simple calculations. The entire process takes about five minutes. The calculator will estimate the carbon footprint for the year, as well as the number of trees it will take to neutralize each person’s impact on climate change. With a voluntary donation, The Conservation Fund will plant the appropriate number of native trees to help fight climate change. Through the Go Zero program, corporations can:
Monsanto Conferences ‘Zero-Out’ Carbon Dioxide’s Impact Monsanto Company’s Manufacturing and Breeding groups have recently joined the Go Zero efforts. The recent 2007 Manufacturing, Environmental, Safety and Health Conference in Similarly, an estimated 114 tons of carbon dioxide were created when Global Breeding and Breeding Technology held the Global Breeding Council Meeting in "Just as we help our customers move toward sustainable agriculture, we must also be environmentally conscious in our corporate practices," said WHC Chairman, Émer ÓBroin, Vice President, Environmental Safety, Health and Human Rights, Monsanto Company. "The Go Zero work by Manufacturing and Breeding is a perfect example of Monsanto giving back to the environment in a very tangible way." Since 2000, The Conservation Fund has restored nearly 30,000 acres and planted more than nine million trees through its carbon sequestration program. Over the next 100 years, these new forests are expected to capture an estimated 13.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere. To learn more, please visit www.gocarbonzero.org. Contact the Wildlife Habitat Council and say you wish to join the Go Zero campaign! |
