HEALTHY BEES, HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

Urban Land Institute Presentation to the MINNESOTA Regional Council of Mayors / February 2015 Bob Engstrom & John Shardlow

Introduction: JOHN SHARDLOW + Chair of Healthy & Resilient Cities Committee + Publicity & Awareness + Opportunity for IMPACT

BEES (Apis spp., Bombus spp. etc)

BEES ~30% of our daily food & 80%+ of all plant life dependent on bees & other pollinators

CROPS POLLINATED BY BEES

Alfalfa All Spice Apple Almond Artichoke Asparagus Avocado Bell Pepper Blackberry Blueberry Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Cacao Canola Cantaloupe Carrot Cashew Cauliflower Celery

Cherry Citrus Coconut Coffee Cotton Dill Eggplant Fennel Garlic Green Bean Kale Kola Nut Leek Lychee Macadamia Mango Mustard Nutmeg Olive Onion

Passion Fruit Peach Pear Peanut Plum Pumpkin Raspberry Sesame Soybean Sugar Beet Squash Sunflower Vanilla Watermelon

POLLINATOR ECONOMICS 101: $18 BILLION (U.S.A)

• 4,000 species Native Bees provide “free” pollination services worth $3 billion (500 species native to MN)

• Apis mellifera (European Honey Bee) services valued at $15 billion

Apples, Honey, & Other Crops

• APPLES: largest fruit crop dependent on bee pollination - Annual Harvest of 18 million lbs; Valued at $9 million

• MN Ranks 6th in the nation for HONEY production; producing ~8 million lbs of honey with value $11+ million

• MN Berries, Sunflower, Canola, and various vegetable crops rely on bee pollination services

MINNESOTA

Manual fruit pollination required in regions of China

BEE POPULATION

• Decreasing (!) • Many Culprits

• Agricultural practices • Pesticides & herbicides use • Parasites & Pathogens • Loss of Habitat

Habitat Loss Varroa Mite

Pesticide Abuse

Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus)

MONARCH POPULATION

• Decreasing (!) • By 50% in last decade

• Many Culprits

MILKWEED (Asclepias spp.)

• ONLY Food Source • Habitat is paramount

ULI RCM “This collaborative partnership provides a nonpartisan platform focused on building action strategies to raise the region’s overall economic competitiveness, innovation and quality of life.”

LET US BE LEADERS

HEALTHY BEES, HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

3-POINT PROGRAM

2. Consider INTEGRATING native habitat into public approval process as part of landscaping requirements

3. ENLIST private support (i.e. homeowners) for native habitat plantings

1. CONVERT under-utilized land to habitat for increased ecological function & support of pollinator population

1.) Convert under-utilized land into pollinator habitat

Vacant Lots

Medians

Roadsides & Utility Corridors

2.) Consider integrating native habitat plantings into public approval process

A Stantec raingarden also serves as pollinator habitat in Wayzata, MN

Engstrom Residential Development (with 60 ac. Pollinator Habitat) – Lake Elmo, MN

3.) Enlist private support for native habitat plantings

According to Author PhD Doug Tallamy

REAL & POSITIVE IMPACT on wildlife populations is possible & effective working at the scale of cities. By empowering residents to participate in this effort, a city can AMPLIFY its efforts to support pollinator populations.

SPECIES COMPATIBILTIY refers to other species like mammals, birds & insects that choose to live in, eat, lay eggs on, overwinter, nest, etc in another species like the trees highlighted below

Non-Native Ginkgo Tree / 3 species compatibilities Native Oak Tree / 534 species compatibilities

Opportunity for Engagement at all levels

Events like the “Pollinator Party” in Minneapolis are great ways to enlist private support

Maintenance concerns are real; But we will work with you to craft a plan that is both doable & effective

LET US BE LEADERS

HEALTHY BEES, HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

If you are interested in implementing this 3-point program to support pollinators in your city, be in touch with Bob Engstrom <roberteengstrom@gmail.com>

IMAGE & ICON CREDITS

http://www.lavieengreen.com/blog/honey-bees-colony-collapse-disorder-threatens-global-agriCulture guardianlv.com oakcliff.advocatemag.com www.huffingtonpost.com www.communichi.org commons.wikimedia.org http://minnesota.uli.org/rcm/ frustratedfarmgirl.com www.photoswinprizes.com http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/pollinator-conservation-in-minnesota-and-wisconsin.pdf http://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/07/13/bees-hive-health http://www.studiomatthews.com/works/pollinator-pathway www.concordmonitor.com netnebraska.org http://mankatotimes.com/2014/06/16/dont-mow-ditches-until-august-1st/

onthetrailfwc.wordpress.com littlehouseontheurbanprairie.wordpress.com http://www.plantiquempls.com/?attachment_id=412 www.ranjitinsecticides.com http://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/campaign/the-details/ http://www.nativescapellc.com/projects/farmingtonhills.html www.prairieresto.com http://farm.conservationdistrict.org/2013/aerating-the-fields.html CONVERT icon thanks to Rohit Arun Rao via the Noun Project CHECKMARK icon thanks to Philipp Koerner via the Noun Project FRIENDS icon thanks to Dan Hetteix via the Noun Project Other images courtesy of Bob Engstrom Presentation prepared by Ally Czechowicz