Increase pollinator habitat on County and private lands to 75 acres by 2025
Objective Description
Trend Analysis
Since 2019, Howard County has steadily increased pollinator-friendly habitat on public and private property. By 2020, we added 7.6 acres on County and private land, largely driven by the Bee City USA program. In 2021, another 4.6 acres were added, followed by 8.9 acres in 2022, bringing the total to 84.5 acres. In 2023, we saw a major jump with 19.5 additional acres, surpassing 100 acres for the first time. In 2024, we added even more, reaching 138 acres. With ongoing promotion of our Habitat Registration tool, we expect continued growth as more habitat is created through our programs and partnerships.
Strategies
- Capitalize on mowed areas that can be converted to pollinator habitat. This will also decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
- Expand community educational resources and workshops for creating pollinator habitat.
- Obtain grant funds whenever possible to offset costs and create incentives for private landowners.
- Conduct full scale inventory of County owned land to identify priority areas
- Create and implement a program to educate developers about maximizing pollinator habitat when designing new communities.
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Source: Office of Community Sustainability