Sounds crazy - I know. Here's a link to some fig 'fanatics', that is, biologists who study figs and fig wasps. And, if you're not believing me, here's a link to an image that describes the process. In scientific terms, this relationship between the fig plant and the fig wasp is called mutualism.(Double-click the image to read it. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/bps/media-view/19378/0/0/0)
So, here's a concept, we wouldn't have much of our food resources without our pollinators, so pollinators = sustainability.
Onto the Symposium Announcement:
International Symposium Addresses the Pollinator Declines
WASHINGTON, D.C., OCTOBER19, 2011, --/WORLD-WIRE/-- One out of everythird bite of food we consume comes from plants that depend on beesand other pollinating animals for reproduction, yet Colony CollapseDisorder continues to plague honey bees, stump researchers, and alarmthe agricultural community. While many people are aware of pollinatordeclines, very few know how they can help. Now is the chance!
A week of brainstorming and technology transfer between NorthAmerica’s leading pollinator scientists and stakeholders at the 11thAnnual North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC)International Conference will begin with a film screening for thepublic and press of “The Strange Disappearance of the Bees” at theSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium onTuesday October 25th at 3:30 PM. Attendees will have a chance toparticipate in a question and answer session with the leadingpollinator authorities following the film screening.
Additionally, the public is invited to join the NAPPC morningsymposium, “Our Future Flies on the Wings of Pollinators” onWednesday, October 26, 2011 from 9-11 AM featuring keynote addressesby; Bryan Arroyo, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ed Flanagan, JasperWyman & Son, Rev. Richard Cizik, The New Evangelical Partnership forthe Common Good, and more. During this public session, the Bee SmartTMMobile Planting App and the Bee SmartTM School Garden Kit willofficially be released. The Bee SmartTM School Garden Kit is gearedfor 3-6 grade classrooms interested in learning about the connectionbetween pollinators, food, and people. The Bee SmartTM Mobile PlantingApp is the only pollinator planting app available for smartphones, andprovides nearly 1,000 different planting suggestions based on the typeof pollinator habitat gardeners want to create. “These new toolsgive hands-on support to make a real difference for bees and allpollinators,” said Laurie Davies Adams, ED of the PollinatorPartnership (P2), the 501(c)3 that oversees NAPPC.
The public will also witness the signing of a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) between P2 and the National Park Service. With thesigning of the new MOU, the total acreage influenced by P2 to promotepollinators will be tipped close to 2 billion acres.
Recipients of the Pollinator Advocate Award will be honored for thework they done for pollinators in local gardens (Dr. Clement Kent –Canada), along utility rights-of-way (Jimmy Brown – USA), acrossagricultural landscapes (Peter and Laura Berthelsen – USA), and atmigration overwintering sites (Dr. Isabel Ramirez – Mexico) at theTuesday VIP evening reception. P2 supporter Spring44 will be at thisevent sweetening the reception with specially crafted cocktails madefrom their signature Honey Vodka; this sustainable spirit is availablenationally and each purchase supports P2’s pollinator conservation.
The NAPPC Symposium is a unique opportunity to get the latest insightson why pollinators matter, what you can do to help pollinators, andwhat are the benefits, challenges, and outcomes anticipated across thecontinent in the next decade. Please join NAPPC and explore theinteraction between humans, plants and pollinators, broadening ourunderstanding of the role pollinators play in major issues facingNorth America. Visit http://www.nappc.org/ to RSVP and learn more about theseevents.
Managed by the non-profit Pollinator Partnership, NAPPC is acollaborative effort of over 130 organizations in the U.S., Canada,and Mexico whose common goal is to promote awareness of the essentialrole that pollinators play in food systems and ecosystems, and toprovide the public with simple, effective ways to engage inenvironmental stewardship.
To learn more about the North AmericanPollinator Protection Campaign visit http://www.nappc.org/ or the PollinatorPartnership visithttp://www.pollinator.org.
CONTACT:
Tom Van Arsdall
tva@pollinator.org <mailto:tva@pollinator.org>
t: 703 509 4746
Olivia Jacobsen
oj@pollinator.org <mailto:oj@pollinator.org>
t: 415.362.1137
