The Nature of Business – A Conservation Conference Session Recap

/by

On the first day of the Conservation Conference last November, Sue Kelsey of General Motors (GM), Kristen LeForce of DTE Energy and Sita Daavettila of Summit Materials convened a session to discuss the importance of conservation programs in developing a new or enhancing an existing corporate sustainability strategy.

Sue Kelsey, Global Biodiversity Program Manager, GM, kicked off the Nature of Business: Linking Habitat to Corporate Sustainability Plans session by demonstrating how GM’s engagement with WHC Conservation Certification enriched GM’s sustainability strategy. In particular, GM has committed to achieving Conservation Certification at all of its manufacturing facilities by 2020. During her presentation, Sue showcased many of these facilities, describing how she worked with WHC strategy and planning staff to provide toolkits and specialized remote or on-site guidance to help initiate conservation programs and achieve certification. With programs at 49 of its manufacturing facilities (and an additional 13 non-manufacturing sites) around the world WHC-certified as of November 2016, GM is already more than halfway to its goal.

Kristen LeForce, Wildlife Habitat Coordinator, DTE Energy, discussed how conservation activities can even be a gateway for initiating a sustainability strategy. For DTE, that means incorporating conservation into the planning process for operational activities. This helped to create a culture of sustainability and ensures funding for these activities is allocated during the planning process, rather than after budgets have been finalized. This successful strategy, along with Conservation Certification metrics, has been detailed in its Corporate Citizenship Report.

Finally, Sita Daavettila, Social and Sustainability Coordinator, Summit Materials, conferred the importance of gaining support from company leadership to make substantial change. In addition, Sita reinforced the power of stories, and how themes or alignments among projects can be used to tell a broader story to leadership or stakeholders. In fact, Summit Materials uses its website to feature the stories of some of its accomplishments, including programs that have achieved Conservation Certification.

To learn more about the programs at GM, DTE and Summit, and how you can integrate conservation activities into your company’s CSR or sustainability strategy, contact the WHC Strategy and Planning team.

Read more WHC blogs.

Joining Forces with USFWS to Save Monarch Butterflies in the Southeast

/by

By now you’ve likely heard that monarch butterfly populations have drastically and rapidly declined over the past several years. While approximately 1 billion of these butterflies completed their annual migration in 1996, only 30 million did so in 2014. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is currently reviewing the species for listing under the Endangered Species Act throughout its range in the U.S.

Building upon a long-standing partnership and the recently-established USFWS Region 4 priority to protect monarchs, the USFWS reached out to Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) in September 2014 to focus on increasing the amount of quality monarch habitat on corporate lands in the southeast U.S. The 2-year joint initiative concluded in September 2016.

To achieve the goals of the initiative, WHC coordinated with companies in the southeastern states to restore monarch habitat and educate the community about monarch conservation. The 16 participating companies created monarch habitat by planting milkweed, native warm-season grasses, and other pollinator-friendly vegetation. These plantings typically took the form of pollinator gardens or wildflower meadows. WHC also encouraged site teams to educate communities about monarchs and other pollinator species and their needs. At the culmination of the joint initiative in September 2016, the participating companies had completed 29 projects, which combined provide nearly 100 acres of quality monarch habitat.

As part of these efforts, WHC helped foster partnerships between participating companies and local organizations, who lent their expertise or hands-on assistance to help complete monarch habitat projects. WHC also succeeded in connecting a number of sites with their local USFWS field offices, whose staff were all tremendously willing to help when asked.

An additional outcome of the initiative was an event held at Research Triangle Park (RTC), a large multi-company business park in North Carolina where several WHC members are located. WHC staff joined the USFWS, Research Triangle Foundation, and several other exhibitors during National Pollinator Week 2016 for a monarch and pollinator exhibition designed to spread awareness among RTC employees about monarch conservation and the joint initiative. The event also provided opportunities for employees to connect with about 20 potential partners for restoring monarch habitat at their company’s facility. WHC is grateful to the USFWS, whose staff was instrumental and invaluable in bringing together so many local partners and helping making the event successful.

Although the joint initiative has ended and the USFWS has refocused its monarch conservation efforts in the Midwest, companies still have the opportunity to contribute to monarch conservation. You can find information about monarchs in the resources found in the WHC Knowledge Center, or contact the WHC Strategy and Planning team for one-on-one guidance on creating and monitoring monarch butterfly habitat at your site.