AdkAction’s Adirondack Pollinator Project is set to hold a Pollinator Symposium June 5 at Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek, on Wednesday, June 5th, from 10 am to 4 pm.

The Pollinator Symposium will be aimed at equipping farmers, groundskeepers, public park managers, gardeners, and local government agencies with the knowledge to help preserve and build pollinator populations in the Adirondacks. 

The event’s keynote speaker will be author and garden designer Benjamin Vogt. Sarah Foltz Jordan, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist from Xerces Society, will present Pollinator Habitat Restoration Using Organic Site Preparation Methods.  Jay Burney, Special Projects Director and Founder of the Pollinator Conservation Association, will present ASuccess Story: Conservation Planning, Implementation, and Long-term Management, including creating opportunities to invest in conservation.

Four breakout sessions will also be offered during the symposium, including Integrated Pest Management for Thriving Pollinator Gardens with Dr. Carly Summers, Agricultural Educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County; Monarchs in the Rough: Pollinator Conservation for golf clubs and institutional groundskeepers with Audubon International; A New Garden Ethic Q&A with Benjamin Vogt and Organic Site Prep Q&A with Sarah Foltz Jordan.

AdkAction will debut their newly-created Mobile Pollinator Garden Trailer at the Symposium. The trailer will be traveling in the Adirondack Park this summer, assisting community groups in pollinator-friendly projects.

Concerned that in some areas of the US, pollinator — bee, butterfly, moth, bird and other insect — populations have fallen to record low levels, AdkAction founded the Adirondack Pollinator Project in 2016. The Project is sponsored by AdkAction in collaboration with The Wild Center, Lake Placid Land Conservancy, and Paul Smith’s College. The Project’s mission is to build an understanding of the local and global importance of pollinators and inspiring individual and collective action to help pollinators thrive.

Tuition is $40 and attendees can register and get additional information online.

To date, the Pollinator Project has sponsored lecturers by distinguished experts, free film programming, and hands-on conservation by encouraging community volunteers and homeowners to plant for pollinators. It has also distributed over 50,000 packets of native seeds throughout the ADKs. For additional information about the ADK Pollinator Project, click here.