The NEPP benefits the monarch butterfly, the yellow banded bumble bee, and the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee
2020 was an exciting year for the Xerces Society, as it marked the official launch of their New England Pollinator Partnership. This multi-state collaboration between the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Xerces Society, and several other agencies and organizations began to take shape in 2017 to address decline in native pollinator populations across New England.
The New England Pollinator Partnership seeks to promote, protect, and benefit three species of invertebrates: the monarch butterfly, the yellow banded bumble bee, and the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee. The program will take shape through a coalition of participating landowners.
The New England Pollinator Program is a 25 year initiative. The program provides technical and financial assistance to projects on working lands—farms, dairies, pastures, forests—in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to implement conservation practices benefiting native pollinators. The goal is to engage 1,182 farmers and growers in pollinator conservation practices and establish 7,680 acres of habitat by 2025!
There are a variety of practices available to NEPP participants including managing natural habitats, managing invasive plant species, establishing wildflower habitat, installing flowering hedgerows and field borders, planting riparian buffers, and adopting integrated pest management systems that protect pollinators and their habitats from pesticide risk. One advantage for landowners participating in NEPP is that they will be provided Endangered Species Act regulatory predictability when practices and associated conservation measures are implemented and maintained according to the conservation plan.
The goal is to establish 7,680 acres of habitat by 2025!
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