春水堂视频 175 people attended the fourth annual Colorado Pollinator Summit, 鈥淧rotecting Colorado鈥檚 Biodiversity," which was planned by CU Boulder's听Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR)听 in partnership with other organizations. The Nov. 1 event, which featured plenary talks and panels on urban neighborhoods, landscaping for biodiversity and holistic farming in Colorado, was held at the Sustainability, Energy & Environment Center (SEEC) on the CU Boulder east campus.
"There is great enthusiasm听for protecting bees听and restoring habitat for them," said Louise Chawla, a CEDaR fellow and professor emerita, who has helped听plan the summit for the past three years.听
In addition to domesticated honeybees, Colorado has 500 species of wild bees, who in many cases pollinate crops and wild plants more efficiently than honeybees, she said.听 Other species that听help pollinate听the state's听flowering plants and trees听include听beetles, flies听and to a lesser extent, hummingbirds, butterflies听and a species of bat.
The summit was opened by Kate Greenberg,听Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture, who affirmed the commitment of Gov.听Polis and his administration to help farmers transition to agricultural methods that protect wildlife habitat and wildlife species, such as pollinators.听
Brendon Rockey, who raises specialty potatoes and quinoa on 500听irrigated acres听in Colorado's San Luis Valley, spoke about how companion planting of wildflowers in his potato fields听attracts听beneficial pollinators and birds. A听panel of landscape designers and prairie restoration experts听discussed听the native Colorado landscapes they are installing, in some cases at the scale of corporate and residential developments.听 Another听panel featured听work from听CU Boulder,听including the parking lot pollinator gardens that Danielle Bilot, an instructor in the university鈥檚 Program in Environmental Design, is creating with her students. Megan Jones, a Colorado State University (CSU) doctoral student,听shared her research which explores听why people install wildscaping gardens in their yards and why they become 鈥渁mbassadors鈥� who spread this practice among their neighbors.听
"Biodiversity landscaping听is important to me," Chawla said. "It is critical for sharing the living world with children, who are the focus of my practice and research."
The听event was planned by CEDaR, along with the nonprofit, the People and Pollinators Action Network, the Butterfly Pavilion, Denver Botanic Gardens, the City of Boulder, 听CSU听Extension, and the Audubon Society.听