LOCALadk Magazine

64 Summer 2017 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk New York State is home to more than 450 wild pollinator spe- cies. This native population is important not only to the pol- lination of commercial crops, but also to biodiversity. Howev- er, over the past several years, managed pollinator colonies in the state have experienced losses in excess of 50 percent, and some commercial migratory pollinators have experienced colony losses in excess of 70 percent. This is coupled with losses in the native pollinator community and the habitat that sustains them. With more than 7 million acres in New York State devoted to agricultural production, many of the state's leading crops, such as apples, cabbage, berries, pumpkins, and several other fruits, rely heavily on insect pollination. Pollina- tors are critical to the strength of New York State's agricul- tural economy by adding roughly $350 million in pollination services each year. Matt Schlesinger, Chief Zoologist for the New York Natural Heritage Program (a program of the SUNY College of Environ- mental Science and Forestry), is developing the first Empire State Native Pollinator Survey, which will focus on key groups of native insect pollinators, including certain bees, flies, bee- tles, moths, and butterflies, in order to determine the con- servation status of these populations across the state. "We will be asking citizen scientists to contribute images of our focal insects that we can identify and add to our systematic data collection. This will be the first effort to conduct a state- wide, multi-species assessment of the status of a variety of pollinating insects. The study we're aiming to do is based on the understanding that we don't understand very much about the status of most pollinators in most of the state. Our survey project – like much of our work at NYNHP – is aimed to provide information to state agencies and private landowners. It's a very basic question, or set of questions, aimed at determin- ing what species occur in any area and how are those species doing. Are they rare or common? Are they less common than they were 100 years ago?" At this critical time for pollinator health globally, a regional effort has been formed to address the challenges that polli- nators face. The Adirondack Pollinator Project is a new part- nership initiative led by ADKAction.org, with help from The Wild Center, the Lake Placid Land Conservancy, Local Living Venture, and Common Ground Gardens in Saranac Lake. Our mission is to build awareness, knowledge, and understanding about the global and local importance of pollinators across the Adirondack region, and to empower people to take indi- vidual and collective action to help pollinators thrive. We will launch during National Pollinator Week, which runs from June 19 - June 25, 2017 and organize events throughout the sum- mer. The Adirondack Pollinator Project will: • host educational programs throughout the Adirondack region, including beekeeping workshops, citizen science opportunities, DIY pollinator garden workshops, farmers markets, lectures (including a lecture by Dr. Christine Gro- zinger), and film screenings. A full schedule of events can be found at www.adkaction.org/pollinators. • distribute approximately 30,000 pollinator garden seed packets custom designed for the Adirondack growing sea- son with native perennials and an educational brochure. Jen Kretser

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