Since 1999, NAPPC has grown from an idea by Gabriela Chavarria, Ph.D., and philanthropist-beekeeper, Paul Growald, to an international force driving interest in the vital role and fragile status of native and managed pollinators; species responsible for one-third of our food. • A NAPPC Task Force worked for four years on the creation of a National Academy of Sciences NRC panel, which issued the first, scientific based report demonstrating major pollinator decline in North America in 2006, The Status of Pollinators. • A NAPPC Task Force successfully petitioned for a four-stamp 2007 US Postal Stamp series illustrating pollinators in action. • NAPPC partners created input and the Pollinator Partnership delivered ideas to ensure that the 2008 Farm Bill included pollinator programs in conservation and research titles. • NAPPC partners have worked with the USDA Sec. of Agriculture and with the US Senate to create of National Pollinator Week at both federal and state levels. • NAPPC and the Pollinator Partnership have developed 31 web-based eco-regional planting guides for all regions of the U.S. to prepare the way for healthy pollinator-friendly landscapes across millions of farms, homes, schools, parks and corporate landscapes. |