Healthy green open spaces matter! JHC was a proud participant in a recent day-long symposium about protecting biodiversity hosted by the New York Botanical Garden and the Lower Hudson PRISM on Friday, November 15. Keynote speaker and entomologist Doug Tallamy wowed and sobered the audience with his observations about ongoing challenges to native species and threats to their habitats. In remarks that were alternately light-hearted and urgent, Tallamy painted the threat to our ecosystems as an existential challenge to human life.
Invasive species expert Randy Westbrooks and Carolynn Sears of The Invasives Project in Pound Ridge, New York, also shared their strategies for managing non-native species — including rapid-response operations and personal case studies. The NYBG’s Jessica Arcate Schuler moderated a panel afterward and took questions from the audience. All the panelists stressed the importance of efforts to educate the public about this issue, and offered real-world tactics for bringing attention to the problem.
After lunch participants shared on-the-ground observations about #invasivespecies. Speakers included our own executive director, Kevin Peraino; Linda Rohleder, New York New Jersey Parks & Trails; Chris McArdle, The New York Restoration Project; Budd Veverka, Mianus River Gorge; Chris Gow, Tuxedo Racetrack Preserve; Keri VanCamp, Vassar College; and Diane Alden, Friends of Croton Aqueduct.
Thank you to @ConEdison for their continued funding of our outreach materials about invasive species and citizen advocacy.