| January
2004 |
Our IPM Partners: Audubon International Inspires Responsible Decisions
Integrated pest management has a place in many settings. In recent years IPM awareness has spread to homeowners, golf courses, schools, and many others who can reap the benefits of IPM. The Northeastern IPM Center is developing partnerships with a broad range of organizations that embrace use of the IPM approach in such settings. One such organization is Audubon International. Audubon International starts with a simple premise: each person makes a difference. Our everyday decisions and actions impact the quality of the environment—for better or for worse. The nonprofit environmental organization, headquartered in Selkirk, NY, aims to educate, assist, and inspire millions of people from all walks of life to protect and sustain the air, water, land, and natural resources around them, with the ultimate goal of fostering more sustainable human and natural communities. Sound IPM practices are a part of the package. |
 Approximately 100 representatives from Maine's state government, environmental, and golf organizations attended full day workshops at the Portland Country Club in Falmouth, Maine. Photo courtesy Audubon International. |
“IPM, in and of itself, is valuable,” says Joellen Zeh, Audubon International Program Manager and Northeastern IPM Center Advisory Council member. “But it’s not always very inspirational. We try to help people see the big picture of how IPM relates to total environmental quality and understand the role they play as stewards of the environment. When people see the positive impact they can have, it sparks their enthusiasm and commitment for a lifetime of environmental stewardship.”
Zeh has seen that spark turn into a passion for the environment over and over again through her work with golf courses, schools, businesses, cemeteries, homeowners, and, indeed, entire towns involved in Audubon International’s Cooperative Sanctuary Programs and Sustainable Communities Program. Members are cleaning up streams, protecting common and endangered wildlife, restoring wetlands, conserving water and energy, reducing chemical use, and educating youth.
“The concept is simple: Give people the right reasons for taking environmental stewardship seriously, along with tools, information, guidance, and incentives for action, and they will embrace their responsibility to nature,” says Zeh. Audubon programs offer educational information and property certification for ecologically sound land management and the conservation of natural resources. Participation is designed to help people plan, implement, and document a comprehensive environmental management program and receive recognition for their efforts.
In terms of IPM, Audubon International provides information on chemical use reduction and safety, as well as checklists that enable members to evaluate how their current management practices compare with environmental standards. Local professionals, including extension agents and USGA agronomists, are called upon for site specific assistance.
Ultimately, results are what matter most to Audubon Inter-national. Improved water quality, greater wildlife species diversity, increased acreage devoted to native wildlife habitats, and reductions in chemical and water use are measured through yearly research surveys and documentation required by members for property certification.
A recent two-year survey of 2,100 participants in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses revealed strong positive results, especially in terms of chemical use reduction and safety. Of the 470 golf courses that responded, 82% said they reduced pesticide use since joining the program; 92% were using pesticides with a lower toxicity level; 89% improved cultural control methods to decrease the need for chemical use; and 64% improved spill containment for pesticide mixing and loading areas (2000-2001 Audubon International Managed Lands Survey: Environmental Improvement on Golf Courses).
Such successes have spurred Audubon International to promote environmental stewardship and sustainability not only at the individual and property level, but within entire communities. The organization works with university, government, and environmental partners to enable it to serve municipalities that are interested in sustainable community planning and action. Through collaborative conservation, communities can take advantage of a wider range of resources and services, but do so in a coordinated, holistic way. This emphasis on cooperation has enabled Audubon International to work with property owners and managers across North America and in 26 countries.
“By engaging people at various points along a continuum from individual action to property-level environmental management to community-wide involvement, we can achieve a more environmentally sustainable future,” concludes Zeh. “Why settle for anything less?”
For more information about Audubon International and its programs, visit the website or call (518) 767-9051, ext. 14.
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From the Directors of the Northeastern IPM Center
Meet Our Advisory Council
Our IPM Partners: Audubon International Inspires Responsible Decisions
In the States
A publication
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For more information on IPM in the Northeast or for printed copies of this newsletter, contact Jim VanKirk (315.787.2378; jrv1@cornell.edu) or information specialist Liz Thomas (315.787.2626; egt3@cornell.edu), NYS IPM Program Office, NYSAES, 630 W. North Street, Geneva, NY 14456. Writing and design by Elizabeth Myers (315-251-0713; ebm24@cornell.edu).
