Lower Shore Land Trust is excited to announce a partnership with Eastern Shore Land Conservancy thanks to a grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Cornell Lab)’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative Small Grant Program.
The $5,000 award will be utilized to develop a six-part bird conservation series to be held from January to August of 2022, highlighting various bird conservation and restoration practices across the Delmarva Peninsula; the series will also promote opportunities for engaging new and existing volunteers in meaningful stewardship of conservation lands through the lens of bird conservation. ESLC and LSLT will be planning events that highlight the expertise and efforts of Audubon MD-DC, Washington College Natural Lands Project, Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory, Delaware Wild Lands, Pickering Creek Audubon Center, Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, and the Delmarva Birding Weekend.
The Delmarva Peninsula is a vulnerable peninsula, with the Chesapeake Bay to the west and Coastal Bays and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The peninsula hosts a variety of critical ecosystem habitat and supports a plethora of habitats ranging from forest interior, grasslands, wetlands, and saltmarsh habitat. Unfortunately, habitat loss from sea level rise and development, along with large-scale changes in farming practices, have contributed to the declines in a variety of bird species that were once plentiful on the coastal landscape, such as saltmarsh sparrow, seaside sparrow, black rail, and bobwhite quail.
This upcoming conservation series will highlight regional restoration efforts being implemented by conservation partners through discussions of restoration practices and trainings geared toward land trust members and volunteers, as well as interested members of our community.
Through these focused programs, which include bird banding demonstrations and birding walks, partners aim to increase awareness of the challenges to bird populations and of the actions being implemented to counter these declines. Existing conservation easement landowners will gain insight and knowledge as to how their land plays a role in the larger picture of restoration efforts, and whether their property might have potential to be enrolled in the highlighted restoration projects. Individuals within our communities can become more involved with local land trusts and will have the opportunity to learn how to become more involved with our conserved lands.
ESLC and LSLT once again thanks Cornell Lab for this opportunity to work with our local conservation groups and for the ability to increase our community support of bird conservation.
For questions about this upcoming series, please contact:
Larisa Prezioso, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Restoration Specialist
lprezioso@eslc.org
Kate Patton, Lower Shore Land Trust
Executive Director
kpatton@lowershorelandtrust.org
Indigo Bunting Photo by Maren Gimple, Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory
