Construction and unveiling today of a couple different Pollinator Demonstration Gardens to wrap up National Pollinator week. One of them was at the Iowa Corteva Agriscience campus in Johnston this morning:
Jerry Flint, global initiatives and sustainability leader with Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, Linn Wilbur with the Central Iowa Beekeepers Association, Keri Carstens, global regulatory lead, Seed Applied Technologies and Biologicals for Corteva and First Gentleman Kevin Reynolds, husband of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds worked with employees at the Johnston, Iowa Corteva Agriscience campus on a plant pollinator demonstration garden.
The habitat includes a variety of flowering plants, shrubs and tree species. Additionally, a half-acre of prairie directly adjacent to the garden will display a pollinator habitat on a larger scale. The Pollinator Demonstration Garden is not the first time that employees have aided in habitat establishment around campus. Last year, employees led efforts to implement more than six acres of highly-diverse prairie habitat along the bike path that runs through the Johnston campus. The site location was strategic. It was chosen because it’s aesthetically pleasing to path users, reduces water runoff into the adjacent stream, improves soil health, provides habitat for a range of organisms and increases plant biodiversity. In total, the campus has over 10 acres of pollinator habitat, and that number is growing.
Now this afternoon, Mr. Reynolds and Ms. Kenney cut the ribbon on a pollinator habitat in front of the Wallace Building outside the Department of Ag and Land Stewardship headquarters.
This is the 2nd pollinator habitat on the Capitol grounds, there is a similar garden on the northeast side of the capitol. These sites provide an effective “waystation” for monarchs and other pollinators. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is also a leading partner with the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, a community-led organization whose mission is to enhance monarch butterfly reproduction and survival in Iowa through collaborative and coordinated efforts. Listen here as the guys learn more from Keri Carstens, Global regulatory lead, Seed Applied Technologies and Biologicals with Corteva Agriscience: