IN YOUR ORCHARD
THE ALMOND BOARD
The Almond Board Receives “Business for Bees Sustainability Award”
This past October, the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) presented its Business for Bees Sustainability Award — an honor reserved for standout organizations that go above and beyond to support pollinators — to the Almond Board of California (ABC) and the state’s almond farmers. “This is about their long-term dedication to supporting all pollinators in their orchards and throughout our ecosystem,” said Kelly Rourke, executive director of Pollinator Partnership, which founded NAPPC twenty-one years ago. “We’ve worked with them for many years and this is well-deserved recognition of their steadfast commitment to engaging farmers in pollinator conservation on multiple levels. The Almond Board and the entire almond industry have really moved the needle to raise awareness and generate action to protect pollinators.” NAPPC has only given out its Business for Bees Sustainability Award once before. It is given in years when a business takes extra special steps to protect bees and all pollinators and to advance sustainability and innovation. “ABC’s name is on this award, but it really goes to the 7,600 almond farmers in California,” said Josette Lewis, ABC’s chief scientific officer. “Farmers understand how important pollinators are to growing almonds and to all of agriculture and the environment. They want to be part of the solution.” The reasons for the award, Rourke said, include ABC’s leadership in founding the California Pollinator Coalition, its work promoting on-farm pollinator habitat and its support of years of research and education about the best practices for providing hospitable environments for pollinators in almond orchards and in other habitats. ABC worked with Pollinator Partnership and the California Department of Food and Agriculture last spring to create the California Pollinator Coalition (CPC) which brought
together a broad array of grower organizations across the state’s ag and environmental landscape to help promote the health of wild and managed pollinators.
“The formation of the California Pollinator Coalition was such a big step,” said Laurie Davies Adams, Pollinator Partnership’s Director of Programs, who helped found the CPC. “This is a unique statewide coalition that brings together every grower, farmer and rancher group. I don’t think that’s ever happened before. It’s going to make a real difference on the ground.” NAPPC is a collaboration of diverse partners from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. It includes respected scientists, researchers, businesspeople, conservationists, and government officials. NAPPC works to promote awareness and scientific understanding of pollinators, to find common ground for solutions and to create innovative initiatives that benefit pollinators. NAPPC is administered and supported by Pollinator Partnership, a non-profit headquartered in San Francisco with a mission to promote the health of pollinators through education, conservation, and research. The award was announced during NAPPC’s 21st Annual International Conference, held virtually this year for the second time and hosted by the Pollinator Partnership and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The conference and award ceremony were planned for the
4 2
A L M O N D F A C T S
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker