Gold Certified Archives - Wildlife Habitat Council

Summit Materials | From Abandoned Sand Mine to Monarch Haven

An integral element of a strong corporate conservation program is the ability to learn from and adapt to nature. By recognizing what is working, and by utilizing already-existing features to further conservation goals, corporate conservationists can bring to fruition a program that supports biodiversity.

Construction materials company Summit Materials’ Cornejo Wildlife Project, located at Cornejo & Sons North Wichita Sand and Asphalt Plant 3 in Wichita, Kansas, is a prime example of a program achieving success by learning from nature. Originally an abandoned airport that was turned into a sand mine, the Cornejo Wildlife Project encompasses wetlands, landscaped gardens and a grassland, with efforts focused on supporting birds and pollinators and providing educational opportunities for employees and their families.

As the Cornejo Wildlife Project is located near the Arkansas River Corridor Habitat, it is an ideal stopover location for migratory birds. Five bluebird nesting boxes were installed across two locations on-site, situated away from roads and site operations to reduce potential human interference. In addition to the nesting boxes, Cornejo & Sons also installed several brush piles to provide shelter as well as foraging areas for target bird species.

One of the key conservation goals of the Cornejo Wildlife Project is the protection of pollinators, particularly migratory monarch butterflies, since the garden is located within the I-35 Monarch Highway. The site’s several gardens help support this goal, including a 200-square-foot pollinator garden containing milkweed, garden phlox and black-eyed Susan to provide resources for monarchs.

“One major issue we ran into was getting water to our pollinator garden,” said Randy Roths, Community Outreach Director at Cornejo & Sons. “We tried many different methods to resolve this: rain collection barrels with a hose line, a water line from the lake that got filled with pond scum, soaker hose that kept getting stopped up, etc.” After learning from this trial-and-error period, the team found their winning option in an innovative solar-powered pump that transports water from the nearby pond into a sprinkler system to irrigate the garden. Beginning in early 2021, Cornejo & Sons also employed a no-pesticide policy in the pollinator garden, and in 2022, approximately 42 butterflies, bees, moths and wasps were observed throughout the garden.

Additional gardens at the plant entrance were in place for many years when Cornejo & Sons recognized that this area represented another opportunity to provide wildlife habitat on-site. Beginning in April 2021, the team removed overgrown plants and added milkweed and catmint based on these plants’ previous success with attracting pollinators in other locations on-site. These choices proved successful in this garden as well, with catmint and blazing stars attracting both bees and butterflies.

When the site was first purchased, a large berm along the southern end of the property separated the on-site quarry from a housing development. It was originally seeded with turfgrass, and Cornejo & Sons soon realized it could provide greater ecosystem services if it were seeded with pollinator-friendly plants instead. After over-seeding with several different wildflower mixes, the berm now hosts a variety of plants benefiting butterflies and bees, including purple prairie clover and yellow sweet clover. A no-mow policy ensures that these plants and the pollinators that depend on them can thrive. Just through visual observations alone, Cornejo & Sons could see the success of this garden, as the blooming flowers were buzzing with an estimated 5,000 individual bees.

But it’s not only the wildlife that gets to enjoy the Cornejo Wildlife Project — summer interns, employees and their families can tour the site. Through these tours, they learn about how the pollinator garden provides resources for bee populations, how the bluebird nests create shelter and how the site’s wetlands and riverside grasslands supply a water source for wildlife. This project also creates opportunities for learners to get involved in the maintenance of the habitat, either through planting native wildflowers or collecting samples to test the water quality. Making these hands-on projects accessible and family-friendly was a critical element. “We implemented weekend workdays that incorporated people’s families,” said Roths. “That way, they wouldn’t sacrifice their time away from their families in order to help out the project.”

When it comes to developing a successful conservation program, Roths emphasized the importance of looking to colleagues for support. “Ask for help,” he said. “You will be surprised in the interest and knowledge of other employees.”

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EMD Serono | Putting the Focus on Pollinators

Pollinators play a key role in our ecosystems, and by devoting time and resources to pollinator support, the corporate sector can help ensure the health of these important populations. Healthcare and biotechnology company EMD Serono is one such corporation making a commitment to protect pollinators. EMD Serono’s Research and Development Institute, located about 25 miles outside Boston, Massachusetts, is the site of a WHC Gold-Certified program. This facility includes almost 40 acres of wildlife habitat and encompasses grasslands, wetlands and pollinator habitats that help contribute to employee knowledge and support the company’s dedication to corporate conservation.

In 2018, the company conducted an assessment to better understand the conditions on-site, with the goal of establishing a program that would support pollinator species across landscapes. Of particular concern is the global loss of honeybees, so efforts are focused on supporting bees and other pollinators by providing forage plants, sources of water and places to sun and nest. While eastern bumble bees are the species most commonly seen on-site, EMD Serono also supports other pollinators and flying insects that play a critical role in the ecosystem.

Through their grassland projects, the team’s goal is to enhance the area to create habitat for pollinators. EMD Serono worked with partner Best Bees Co. to assess the area, determining pollinator forage type, diversity and capacity. By sampling honey from a research apiary installed on-site, the team is able to perform genetic profiling in order to determine the best plants to meet pollinators’ needs. EMD Serono has also made changes to its forest edge management practices, such as utilizing trees that are likely to fall for snags and log habitats.

A recently constructed savannah meadow creates forage resources and habitat for pollinators like ground-nesting bees. The area was formerly a lawn and parking area that had been disturbed by nearby construction, so the team worked to restore the soil and plant xeriscape grasses, flowers and ornamental trees, eventually adding wildflowers to provide a wide array of forage for pollinators.

Employee engagement is key to any successful project, and EMD Serono’s employee education initiative, Project Pollinate, utilizes the on-site habitats to teach employees best practices for supporting pollinators. Learners can then take those skills to their own backyards. Through guided tours of the habitat, a self-guided audio tour, guest speakers, hands-on learning sessions and more, employees gain a broader understanding of the conservation efforts taking place at EMD Serono. Additionally, they are empowered to initiate and maintain their own pollinator projects at home.

Not only does this project educate about the impact of pollinators, but it also gives participants an opportunity to shape the habitats and environments around them. While the audience is primarily employees, the project has also seen the participation of visitors, contractors and corporate peers. EMD Serono recognizes the value of nature and landscaping to enrich employees’ lives, which is why the company is dedicated to creating a “living landscape” with a purposeful design that helps employees and others understand their role in the environment.

“The reimagined campus has become a tangible and positive wellness experience for employees, guests and visitors, with direct access to trees, and landscapes designed to connect occupants to the natural world,” said Casey-Lee Bastien, Landscape Architect with BSC Group and member of the conservation project team. “The success of our program and process have had ripple effects in the community, including staff making changes in their home landscapes and proudly discussing and sharing their experience. Contractors have brought family to see the campus they work on because it is a project with a story, a purpose, and real values.”

These efforts to support pollinators have had a positive impact on other aspects of their operations. “Our pollinator program has affected all aspects of site work, from water reclamation to lighting, to genetic pollen forage profiling, habitat artwork and every piece of landscape on our site,” said Bastien. “Habitat is not something to put in a box.” EMD Serono even worked with contractors to alter their practices, encouraging them to replace gas-powered tools with manual and battery-powered equipment in order to have a positive influence on the landscaping industry as a whole. “That sort of change isn’t easy; it has to be repeated and re-preached,” Bastien explained. “It must be visible in every interaction because our leaders, designers and practitioners are learning and adapting together.”

By creating a thriving corporate habitat that prioritizes pollinators and sets a standard for habitat enrichment, EMD Serono is demonstrating the important role the private sector plays in supporting wildlife and habitat needs.

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Ashland | Responsibly Solving to Support a Thriving Habitat at a Former Landfill

Ashland’s Old York Road site, a former landfill located in Burlington Township, New Jersey, comprises seven acres of grassland and has been actively managed for conservation since 2012. The site houses projects ranging from invasive species management to mammal monitoring to educational partnerships. Ashland’s conservation goals include monitoring and supporting native wildlife and incorporating native vegetation to reduce maintenance needs across the site. Through a partnership with Rutgers University, the company also facilitates hands-on learning opportunities for future conservation professionals.

Ashland’s commitment to environmental protection aligns with the Responsible Care® program, a global initiative developed by and for chemical companies. “Identifying opportunities to create conservation projects on environmental remediation sites aligns with Ashland’s global environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and Responsible Care goals of improving the environmental and social impacts of the company’s operations on our communities,” explained Shannon Lloyd, remediation project manager at Ashland.

Old York Road plays host to various species of birds, bats, mammals and pollinators, with projects designed to attract and support these native species. The bird box project targets cavity-nesting songbirds, with predator guards ensuring that only avian species can access the boxes. Through weekly monitoring, employees found that 52 fledglings successfully graduated from the nesting boxes in 2020 and 2021, with the number of successful fledglings nearly doubling in 2021.

As white-nose syndrome has been documented in the state of New Jersey, Ashland’s solvers have aligned their bat project with the White-Nose Syndrome Response Team’s recommendations for supporting bat populations, such as providing shelter, food and water. In addition to box observations, Ashland also uses an ultrasonic microphone for monitoring purposes. Through echolocation surveys, the team has determined that there are five species of cave-dwelling bats in the area: big brown bats, little brown bats, red bats, hoary bats and silver haired bats.

To facilitate further species monitoring, Ashland has installed a wildlife camera trap annually since 2019 to record evidence of mammals such as white-tailed deer, racoons and red foxes. Two cameras are installed and deployed for five days during seasonal monitoring events. Nine species were identified using this camera, including the target species plus groundhogs, opossums and squirrels. Ashland also conducts pollinator monitoring of bumblebees, honeybees and butterflies, and in May 2021, 19 total pollinator species were observed.

Through a formal learning connection with Rutgers University, Ashland creates real-world educational experiences for local students that surpasses what is possible through classroom instruction alone. “Ashland has made a commitment to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education,” said Lloyd, “and partnering with students who gain hands-on field experience action supports that commitment.” This mutually beneficial partnership with Rutgers provides students the opportunity to apply their ecological expertise to the site’s projects by monitoring nest boxes and conducting wildlife and vegetation surveys, while Ashland receives useful data for monitoring and documentation. Through this project, students hone their skills of data collection and management, field observation, species identification and applied conservation. “There is a learning curve that varies each year,” explained Lora Sterner, senior associate environmental scientist, Kennedy Jenks Consultants, Inc. and program manager for Ashland’s WHC sites. “Preparing step-by-step procedures specific to each project is part of the programmatic approach and improves the consistency and quality of information used in preparing the certification documentation.”

The program at Old York Road also targets invasive species. The tree of heaven is an invasive tree in the area that grows quickly and outcompetes native plants for resources such as water and sunlight. They were first observed on-site in 2017 and were targeted for removal via mowing and cutting. Tree of heaven often serves as habitat for another invasive species, the spotted lanternfly, which was first seen on-site in 2020. The team has since targeted trees of heaven more heavily for removal, and the ongoing removal of these trees will help slow the growth of lanternfly populations.

As part of their remediation of the former landfill, the team at Ashland went above and beyond regulatory requirements by seeding the landfill cap with a native seed mix and developing a maintenance plan to support the growth and success of native plants. Thanks to a conservation easement, the remediation project is protected from any habitat loss or fragmentation that might occur due to development or reuse of the site.

Through partnerships, rigorous monitoring and a dedication to supporting native plants and animals, Ashland’s solvers have developed a thriving habitat.

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Ontario Power Generation | Crossing the Fence Line to Drive Regional Conservation Action

The expansion of conservation activities on a site can take many forms. While growth often entails adding new projects or increasing the area of an existing habitat, companies that look beyond their fence lines to support other local conservation efforts can amplify their own impact while forging invaluable partnerships and building environmental resilience.

The Ontario Power Generation (OPG) facility in Wesleyville, Ontario (60 miles east of Toronto) sits on 1,200 acres of agricultural and pasture lands, as well as forested areas and provincially significant wetlands. Wesleyville Creek, one of the highest-quality coldwater streams in the region, flows across the property, draining into Lake Ontario. For over twenty years, these natural areas have hosted an extensive conservation program that has allowed OPG to strengthen its relationship with neighboring landowners and support local scientific research.

OPG Wesleyville’s conservation work began in 1997 with an environmental survey that identified two opportunities for OPG to increase on-site biodiversity: reforestation and restoration of the lower reaches of the Wesleyville Stream to support brook trout and other native fish, which face threats such as predation by sea lampreys and the warming of coldwater streams from climate change and deforestation.

In response to these findings, starting in 1998, employees planted native trees (including pine, spruce, ash, cedar, maple and oak varieties), resulting in over 40,000 seedlings planted on the property over the decades. Additionally, Wesleyville employees began work on a multi-phase stream restoration project, the first step of which entailed clearing out excessive sediment and removing beaver dams that were confining the creek’s brook trout population to areas with limited food and few places to spawn.

Over time, OPG employees, with assistance of contractors and local conservation authorities, have removed in-stream culverts for greater trout mobility, planted willows to provide shade and moderate the creek’s temperature and, with the help of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, installed a barrier that prevents invasive sea lampreys from entering the creek. Monitoring data collected by the local Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) indicates that brook trout spawning activity is increasing, sea lampreys are being effectively controlled and the creek’s water quality has remained high.

Since implementing these initial projects, OPG has continued to grow its conservation efforts. In 2009, 16 nest boxes for cavity-nesting birds like tree swallows and bluebirds were installed. Routine monitoring conducted later that year revealed a pair of young ospreys nesting atop a utility pole. When the ospreys flew south at the end of the year, employees removed wires from the pole and installed a more stable nesting platform. Today, the site features 57 nest boxes, about 95% of which are used by birds each breeding season, and ospreys have fledged nearly every year. Both ospreys and songbirds can find food in the restored forest, and within the site’s two barrier beach marshlands, which OPG fenced off and began to monitor in 2011.

In addition to managing these on-site projects, OPG has driven conservation action on neighboring properties, which also contain portions of Wesleyville Creek. In 2017, OPG and adjacent landowners partnered in a cost- and data-sharing program that has resulted in uniform creek management practices across the sites, and installation of 20 nest boxes on neighboring lands.

Ashley Fox, Environmental Advisor at OPG, recommends other conservation teams emulate these efforts. “Collaboration with neighbors has helped OPG’s efforts extend beyond its borders. Considering the benefits of landowner partnerships, it’s worth exploring what your neighbors are already doing. From there, you can discuss opportunities to reduce each company’s workload, share scientific information and stay informed about local changes.”

Moving forward, OPG and its neighbors intend to work with the Nature Conservancy and the GRCA to control the use of ATVs and dirt bikes near the creek, as these recreational vehicles can destroy spawning sites and increase erosion along the banks.

In addition to sharing monitoring data with its neighbors, OPG and its partners have made valuable contributions to local research. Every year, grasses and other material from bluebird and tree swallow nests are provided to the Royal Ontario Museum in support of research on cavity-nesting birds, and monitoring data on these species is sent to the Ontario Eastern Bluebird Society, who integrates the information into its spring newsletter. Data collected in the wetlands is used by Environment and Climate Change Canada (a federal agency) as baseline information in studies on biodiversity and climate change’s impact on wetlands.

Ashley says that these opportunities for collaboration have been critical to the Wesleyville program’s success. “The most rewarding part of our work has been two-fold: meeting new and enthusiastic citizen scientists, and collaborating with our community and professional partners to complete work that has a measurable impact on the local ecosystem. The success of the Wesleyville program is due to the incredible team effort made by a variety of employees and the commitment of OPG’s neighbors and community partners.”

With its robust partnerships and commitment to maintaining healthy habitats on- and off-site, the OPG Wesleyville program has thrived for decades, and its employees and partners are primed to serve as regional conservation leaders in the years to come.

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Chemours Washington Works | Decades of Conservation, Driven by Partnerships and Ambition

From wavering employee interest to budget constraints, conservation programs can face many challenges as years go by. Forming the right partnerships and continually taking small steps toward big goals are, in these cases, keys to program longevity.

Chemours operates a plant within Washington Works, a large plastics manufacturing facility shared with DuPont and Kuraray located outside Parkersburg, WV. Since 1988, employees and retirees from the three companies (known as the Washington Works Nature’s Environmental Support Team, or WW-NEST), have worked to support wildlife on company grounds through conservation and habitat enhancement projects across the 1,950-acre site. Four years later, the team achieved WHC Conservation Certification® for their efforts, and in the same year began to construct a trail system.

Today, the Washington Works conservation program is Certified Gold and the trails serve as a venue for extensive environmental education and community outreach work that benefits both the company and the wide array of visitors that explore, study and volunteer time on-site. The Washington Works Nature Trails are open to the public and transect the site’s 65 acres of hardwood forest (which feature over 40 native tree species, including oak, maple and ash varieties), 18 acres of meadowland, a pond and a constructed vernal wetland.

Chemours employees make up the largest share of WW-NEST volunteers and a retired technical fellow from Chemours, Dave Johnson, currently oversees the program. Dave began working with WW-NEST about 10 years into the team’s history, when they were focused on habitat conservation and enhancement. He explains that once these natural areas began to thrive, “It was clear that we could do more if we could engage the public in the outdoors. Seeing people walking the trails with their family or dogs in tow, avid birders and photographers at work, and classes on field trips inspires the WW-Nest Team to continue their efforts and to dream big.”

While many community members explore the trails independently, WW-NEST also offers structured programming for local students and youth groups. The first field trip conducted at the site was for a local church’s reading camp. A Chemours employee who volunteered with the camp suggested that the children travel on-site to identify and research wildlife by using reference guides, providing participants with a hands-on, interdisciplinary way to exercise their reading skills. The event was well-received, and the church now returns each summer.

WW-NEST soon expanded their offerings to local schools, who can either partake in docent-led field trips or develop their own lesson plans. Each year* about 180 first graders travel the trails to participate in activities like leaf collection, insect lifecycle lessons, and snake and frog observation; local high school students visit the site to conduct transect monitoring, GIS mapping, tree identification and water testing. Dave cites these field trips as one of WW-NEST’s greatest achievements, explaining that, “Developing partnerships with local teachers and schools has taken quite the effort, but the payback in seeing students’ enjoyment and engagement makes it worth the effort.” He adds that WW-NEST volunteers are typically eager to serve as field trip docents.

While organizing volunteers for habitat construction and maintenance activities has been more challenging, the team has been able to accomplish these tasks through partnerships with local Scout troops. Cub and BSA Scouts regularly contribute to habitat enhancement tasks, including planting American holly trees and constructing bird and bat boxes.

Since 2004, 10 Eagle Scout candidates have also completed their required service projects at Washington Works. Each of these projects, which are selected by individual Scouts after they learn about WW-NEST’s needs, have increased the accessibility of the site — information kiosks, bridges and benches have been added to public areas, and two Scouts reconstructed trails to make them wheelchair accessible through the use of compacted gravel. Dave says that “Getting involved with Scouting, particularly with Eagle Scout projects, has been a win-win for both parties. The Scouts provide planning, manpower and partial funding and WW-NEST collaborates on the planning and provides additional funding to achieve projects that would normally be beyond the scope that a Scout could achieve on his own.”

Dave reflects that each addition to the program is “a step toward fulfilling the WW-NEST’s dreams.” Ultimately, the team would like to construct a classroom building and other educational facilities for school groups to utilize year-round. As a first step they hope to soon construct a shelter area for school groups so that field trips can proceed in inclement weather.

He encourages other teams to likewise set lofty goals. “Don’t limit what you can do to what you think you can do,” he says, “and don’t prejudge what you will be allowed to do before you make the case for doing it.” WW-NEST was able to secure routine corporate funding for their program after demonstrating what they had accomplished using proceeds from site-level contributions. He also reinforces the importance of partnerships, stating that WW-NEST’s “partnerships with Scouting and schools allow achievements greater than what could be achieved through employee volunteer efforts alone.”

Through this combination of ambition, strategy and collaboration, WW-NEST’s efforts have been sustained for over three decades and are primed to keep thriving.

*Community engagement figures derived from 2018 (pre-pandemic) Certification application

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Fidelity Investments | Large Scale Conservation through Employee Empowerment

With a 525–acre campus featuring vast expanses of forest and grassland, the Fidelity Investments Corporate Office in Smithfield, RI lends itself to a multitude of conservation efforts — the site’s Certified Gold program features ten qualifying projects. Maintaining this many projects across such a vast property requires careful coordination and an active, empowered base of volunteers. The Fidelity team has accomplished this feat through proactive monitoring and robust employee outreach, efforts that helped them earn the WHC Gold Program of the Year Award in 2020.

The property features 400 acres of contiguous forest, 20 acres of grasslands and an acre of pollinator garden habitat, which is maintained through comprehensive invasive species control. This land is home to animals like the eastern wild turkey, monarch butterfly, eastern bluebirds and tree swallows, and serves as a backdrop to three education projects centered on these species.

Due to their scope, some of the projects require contractor maintenance and monitoring. Over 3,500 on-site trees (including red maple, eastern red cedar, common sassafras, scarlet oak and eastern white pine) have been tagged and logged into ArborScope software. Bartlett Tree Experts performs most of the tree maintenance (pruning, pest treatments, root invigoration, and removal of dead or damaged trees) and monitoring is performed by Brightview Landscaping Services.

Because the large pollinator garden, which includes native plants like butterfly weed, swamp milkweed, goldenrod and purple coneflower alongside basking areas and water sources, receives daily maintenance, contractors likewise perform much of this work. The Fidelity team, however, has still found creative ways to keep employees engaged with this habitat. Food scraps from three campus kitchens are collected and composted for use in the garden, providing all staff with a low-effort way of contributing to soil health. During the summer, volunteer days are held one to three times a month, in which employees assist with plantings, transplants and the removal of invasive species like mugwort, multiflora rose, oriental bittersweet and burning bush. Engaging volunteers in the hand-pulling of these species allows for greater staff participation, while also eliminating the use of chemical herbicides. Fidelity also obtained a monitoring protocol from WHC in 2017, and since then, employees have collected butterfly data every few weeks throughout the spring, summer and early fall. Business units will frequently sign up for monitoring duties together, creating opportunities for teambuilding. Since 2017, employees have observed 107 butterflies representing 11 different species including monarchs, whose numbers have doubled.

Central to Fidelity’s employee engagement practices is a dedication to proactively recruiting volunteers at tabling events and through internal communication outlets. Measures are taken to ensure that new volunteers are equipped with the resources they need to make meaningful contributions. Monitoring of the site’s 12 nest boxes was originally organized by one employee who was able to lead the task without a set protocol. When a new set of volunteers took charge of monitoring 2018, to make the process more accessible, the team developed monitoring logs that clearly delineated the type of data needed. By the following year, staff had access to a comprehensive monitoring log that aligned with NestWatch protocols, so that the data could be submitted to the citizen science group.

Employees also have the chance to attend educational events throughout the year, like guided walks between the nest boxes, lessons on the local history of wild turkeys, and information sessions about the garden and how to get involved. Event attendees are quizzed on their ability to perform tasks like identifying the sex of a turkey, to ensure that volunteers will be able to capture useful brood data, which is submitted to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for use in statewide analyses of the turkey population. The quality of submitted monitoring data is also reviewed throughout the year to determine how well employees are applying lessons to fieldwork.

The Fidelity Smithfield team continually looks for ways to improve their employee engagement, as well as the youth-oriented pollinator events they host each year. Plans for the near future include logging more of the site’s trees into ArborScope and developing best practices for deterring house wrens, which are native but known to destroy bluebird nests, from the nest boxes. With their commitment to recruiting volunteers and setting them up for success, the team is well-positioned to keep the already-sizable program growing.

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Stellantis | Partners and Employees Create Habitat for Wetland Birds, Pollinators and More

The Stellantis US Headquarters and Technology Center, also known as the Auburn Hills Complex sits on a 550-acres corporate campus in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It serves as the North American headquarters for Stellantis, as well as its main research and development facility. The campus buildings and test track are surrounded by natural wetlands, stormwater ponds, upland and floodplain forest and landscaped areas.

Located in the wetlands is a heron rookery, where over 25 pairs of great blue herons have nested since 2006. Stellantis works to limit human disturbance of the nesting birds, as this might cause them to abandon their nests. Efforts are also taken to control and filter stormwater runoff that might enter the wetlands to protect water quality for the herons and their prey. The wetlands are also the location of a recently-installed wood duck nest box, as well as a beaver dam.

There are numerous pollinator gardens, including one that is a certified Monarch Waystation installed near one of the ponds. Stellantis also partnered with the on-campus First Nations Resource Group to install a garden near the main cafeteria that features culturally-important plants such as the three sisters (corn, beans and squash) and medicinal herbs.

Partnerships with local conservation organizations and schools help make this program as successful as it is. One of Stellantis’ strongest partnerships is with Avondale High School. Avondale students have participated in multiple projects over the years: they helped plant one of the pollinator gardens, they constructed bat houses, they built insect hotels (along with students from another school, Bowers Academy). The students also participated in a competition about reducing carbon, with the best projects presented at that year’s Earth Day event. In addition, every year Stellantis helps the students learn about stream ecology through the Stream Leaders stream monitoring program. David Jump, Environmental Health and Safety Specialist, understands how working with students like this is valuable for not only raising awareness of conservation issues, but encouraging an interest in STEM fields as well: “I want to be able to show these young people what STEM is, how cool it really is, and maybe give them a push to come into something like it.”

Other local organizations also contribute a great deal to the program and its success. The Oakland Audubon Society helps conduct bird and butterfly surveys several times a year, and leads employee “nature strolls” during the annual Earth Day event. Trout Unlimited also mapped an on-site creek connected to the wetlands and released juvenile trout to promote healthy fish populations.

In addition to Stellantis’ robust partnerships, employees have a strong enthusiasm for the projects that keeps the program going strong. Tonya Hunter, an Ecologist with contractor Environmental Consulting & Technology, remarked how Stellantis employees are “very enthusiastic about the wildlife and very passionate and excited” about the conservation projects. After participating in a trial use of EchoMeter Touch 2 acoustic bat detectors with WHC and local partners, a small group of employees even purchased their own bat detectors and survey the site for bats after hours a few times each year.

When it comes to successful conservation programs, a combination of strong partnerships and enthusiastic employees is a great approach to create long-lasting, positive outcomes.

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Shell | Protecting Migratory Species in the Energy Corridor

Off Interstate 10 in the Energy Corridor of Houston, Texas, lies a haven for pollinators and other wildlife along the migratory flyway. The Shell Oil Company’s Woodcreek Campus sits on 100 acres of land, with just under half of that boasting natural areas including wildflower gardens, a creek and a forested area.

With the rapid development (and paving over) of natural habitat in the Energy Corridor of West Houston, we feel that our campus plays an important role in the migratory success [of pollinators] –Laura Castle, External Relations Advisor – Environmental

The Woodcreek Campus has always been focused on keeping as much green space as possible, with design considerations for wildlife being an important factor since the property was acquired in 1978. When Shell Real Estate began to refurbish existing buildings and construct new ones, it made certain the construction was in line with conserving and restoring wildlife habitat on-site, and aimed to increase the accessibility of nature to its 6,000 employees.

The site’s employees tend to several conservation projects at Woodcreek Campus, which first achieved WHC Certification in 2010. They built a native pollinator garden that includes monarch-friendly plants such as milkweed, Gulf mulhy, Texas lantana and yellow bells. Steps were taken to protect hummingbirds with the installation of window screens during migratory season to reduce window collisions, along with moving flowering vegetation to open areas so the birds are not drawn near the buildings. Shell employees have also taken up actions to reduce human-snake interaction while remaining a no-kill facility, including relocating snakes found on site to the nearby Addicks Reservoir where suitable habitat exists, and human-snake interaction is less likely. Wildlife sightings and health of the habitats are monitored daily to make sure maintenance is not needed and the projects are meeting campus environmental goals.

Gina Flynn, Real Estate Services Manager at Woodcreek, says that employees are incredibly proud of the collection of projects on their site. With three different community engagement events a year, they certainly get that chance to educate and share their success. Woodcreek hosts Powering Conservation Day each year where employees and their children interact with Shell’s environmental partners and learn about the campus’s conservation initiatives. Environmental Awareness Day celebrates Earth Day each year and engages over 1,000 people in learning about the value of conservation in their business and encourages employees to become more involved in the efforts. Flynn states, “We are proud that we get to tell our story in community engagement events. The positive response we get from our employees and environmental NGO partner attendees is energizing!”

In addition to engaging employees and families, the team at Woodcreek works closely with local schools. Over 30 second graders from a local elementary school are educated each year, meeting an important community need for science education. The students learn about the importance of butterflies as pollinators, Houston’s critical location in the Tri-Regional Monarch Flyway, and how Shell is working with national and local conservation groups to use milkweed and other native Texas plantings to increase the numbers of monarch butterflies passing through to and from Mexico.

The global pandemic has not stopped Woodcreek from achieving their conservation goals. Although education and engagement events are not possible, Flynn states they continue to make capital improvements in their landscaping with conservation in mind. The team is also dedicated to continuing education about native landscaping and the importance of these habitats virtually, including encouraging employees to incorporate native landscaping in their personal gardens with the use of the WHC collaborative document: A Guide to Native Landscaping in the US.

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IBM | Continuous Improvement of a 20-year Program in North Carolina

Research Triangle Park (RTP) in Durham and Wake Counties, North Carolina is the largest research park in the United States and a premier global innovation center. Its 7,000 acres house hundreds of companies, including IBM, who arrived in RTP in 1965.

For nearly 20 years, employee volunteers at IBM Research Triangle Park have worked to transform a 579-acre outdoor space into a haven for wildlife including bluebirds, owls, wood ducks, butterflies and reptiles. The conservation program at the facility focuses on employee interest and engagement while also supporting IBM’s long-standing environmental policy and programs . Approximately 350 volunteers oversee a wide range of projects, including nest boxes for avian species, butterfly gardens, stream clean-ups, and a reptile basking platform.

Program volunteers have a long history of engaging with the community. They partnered with Eagle Scouts to build a self-guided, interpretive nature trail with guideposts identifying species encountered on the trail and developed a community garden in an 880-square-foot space between two buildings. The garden provides an opportunity for employees to tend to the garden and harvest fresh vegetables, and enhances biodiversity by providing a food source for pollinators. Employees also worked with the local Boy Scouts to sink approximately 20 employee-donated Christmas trees into the site’s 3-acre pond to improve the fish habitat.

During nesting season, employees help monitor approximately 30 bluebird houses. Stuart Hurwitz, an environmental engineer at IBM Research Triangle Park, says the bluebird boxes monitoring program is the longest running and best supported program at the site.

“It generally involves the greatest number of employees and provides a welcome break to get out of the office and spend some time outside,” said Hurwitz. “There is nothing better than monitoring the boxes and observing the new hatchlings.”

IBM also hosts an annual joint celebration of Earth Day and Take Your Child to Work Day, drawing approximately 300-400 school students and their parents a year, from IBM families as well as some local schools. Activities have highlighted topics such as astronomy, beekeeping, biking, car-pooling, hiking/camping, gardening, farm life, fishing, Scouting, State Parks, well-being and nature. In addition, they have conducted guided nature walks at their site’s recreation center.

The team at IBM RTP are continuously seeking new ways to increase employee engagement, education and community outreach programs. They would also like to increase the number of bird houses on site as well as potentially add a few beehives.

Hurwitz says it’s the employees that volunteer their time and effort that make the program special. “They do it because they are passionate about their support of environmental programs and doing the right thing,” he said. “While each employee has interests in different individual programs, the group as a whole contributes to an overall program rich in environmental conservation diversity.”

Related Content

WHC White Papers:
Relevant President’s Blog or Wildlife Blog posts:
Project Guidances:
WHC Webinars:

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Bayer | Restoring the Atlantic Forest in Brazil

The Atlantic Forest in South America extends along the eastern coast of Brazil and down into northern Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. It is widely considered one of the most threatened biomes on the planet, and one of the highest priorities for conservation due to intense pressures of habitat loss and degradation combined with extraordinary biodiversity and endemic species.

To address this critical problem, in 2008, Bayer assembled a team in the heavily industrialized, east coast city of Camaçari in Bahia, Brazil. The Camaçari Industrial Complex is a production facility for agricultural products, home to Bayer and a number of other companies’ industrial facilities, including Kordsa Brasil and BASF. The team at Bayer designed a project called Projeto Florescer, meaning “Project Blossom” in Portuguese, to restore two large parts of the forest that wildlife rely on for food, shelter and resources.

The initial activities of the Bayer team included the planting a living fence of native plant, Sansão do campo, a shrub native to the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna), to keep cattle out of the restoration area. Together with community organizations and local schools, Bayer has planted 20 acres of trees using 25,000 native tree seedlings grown in an on-site greenhouse.

In order to link Projecto Florescer to a broader regional restoration initiative, the team formalized a partnership with Instituto Corredor Ecológico Costa dos Coqueiros (Coconut Coast Ecological Corridor Institute), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting reforestation along the northern coast of Bahia. Some of the seedlings grown at the Camaçari Plant are used to reforest eroding river and stream banks in neighboring communities. By increasing tree cover and restoring riparian habitat in Camaçari and other cities in Bahia, Bayer is helping to enhance the safety and sustainability of these communities, making tangible contributions to climate, biodiversity and people.

Bayer also educates community members about the Atlantic Forest ecosystem through events like employee family days, open houses and school tours, where visitors can learn about Projecto Florescer and plant tree seedlings in the restored forest.

In 2010, Bayer created an educational project that provides opportunities for approximately 40 students each year to learn about seedling production, reforestation practices, and how to plant and maintain native flora through presentations and hands-on lessons using the site’s nursery garden and other areas. In 2018, this project received the WHC Award for Awareness and Community Engagement.

Summit Materials | From Abandoned Sand Mine to Monarch Haven

EMD Serono | Putting the Focus on Pollinators

Ashland | Responsibly Solving to Support a Thriving Habitat at a Former Landfill

Ontario Power Generation | Crossing the Fence Line to Drive Regional Conservation Action

Chemours Washington Works | Decades of Conservation, Driven by Partnerships and Ambition

Fidelity Investments | Large Scale Conservation through Employee Empowerment

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Stellantis | Partners and Employees Create Habitat for Wetland Birds, Pollinators and More

Shell | Protecting Migratory Species in the Energy Corridor

IBM | Continuous Improvement of a 20-year Program in North Carolina

Bayer | Restoring the Atlantic Forest in Brazil

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About

Work With WHC

Learn More

Member

UN Global Compact Business for Nature

Official ally

World Benchmarking Alliance

UN Global Compact
Business for Nature