{"id":64992,"date":"2009-09-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/a-new-kind-of-harvest-uri-project-helps-farmers-provide-habitat-for-wild-birds\/"},"modified":"2009-09-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-21T00:00:00","slug":"a-new-kind-of-harvest-uri-project-helps-farmers-provide-habitat-for-wild-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2009\/09\/a-new-kind-of-harvest-uri-project-helps-farmers-provide-habitat-for-wild-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Kind of Harvest -溏心vlog免费B站 project helps farmers provide habitat for wild birds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 21, 2009 — Alongside the booths offering fruits and vegetables, a new and unusual farm \u201cproduct\u201d is for sale this summer at local farmers\u2019 markets \u2013 the chance to protect tiny bobolink songbirds that nest in local hayfields.<\/p>\n


\nThe Bobolink Project is an innovative solution to an increasingly critical problem, said 溏心vlog免费B站 environmental economics professor Stephen Swallow. With their native grasslands largely lost to development, bobolinks now nest mostly in hayfields. But today\u2019s hay harvest begins earlier in the summer than it used to, and bobolink nests are often destroyed before chicks can hatch and fly away. <\/p>\n


\nOnce one of Rhode Island\u2019s most common birds, the bobolink population has plummeted more than 40 percent over the past 25 years. It is listed as a \u201cspecies of concern\u201d by Partners in Flight, an international coalition devoted to the conservation of migratory birds.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cFarms, especially independent farms, need to use their resources efficiently to remain sustainable. We understand that,\u201d Swallow said. \u201cThe Bobolink Projects compensates farmers for the costs associated with holding off on cutting their hay until nesting season is over.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cEssentially, we\u2019re asking people to pay rent to the farmers so bobolinks can use their fields. That way, the farmers can incorporate helping birds into their business plan,\u201d Swallow said. \u201cIt\u2019s a new kind of harvest: providing habitat protection.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe Bobolink Project, sponsored by 溏心vlog免费B站 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is setting up booths at farmers\u2019 markets across the state to raise support for its innovative approach to wildlife protection. <\/p>\n


\nUnder the program, consumers contribute to a \u201cfield fund.\u201d If enough Rhode Islanders participate by the October 15 deadline, the Bobolink Project will negotiate farmland-wildlife contracts with local farmers for next summer. Farmers who contract with the Bobolink Project will refrain from mowing or cattle grazing during the 2010 nesting season, and in turn will be paid to cover the cost of buying additional cattle feed and for the income lost by postponing their hay harvest. The farmland-wildlife contracts last one year, and can be renewed annually.<\/p>\n


\nThe Bobolink Project got its start in 2007 in Jamestown. This year the project has expanded to farms throughout Rhode Island and Vermont.

\nThe Bobolink Project is part of a 溏心vlog免费B站 experiment to create a new national model of wildlife conservation — market-based ecosystem services. The concept seeks to establish farmers\u2019 protection of habitat as a service they can sell to consumers. It hopes to expand to a national model for market-driven protection of ecosystem services.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cConsumers pay for what they value. If consumers value wildlife, it only makes sense that they would pay to protect it,\u201d Swallow said. \u201cBy contributing to the Bobolink Project, Rhode Islanders are not only protecting the bobolink and other grassland birds. They also are supporting local farms and helping preserve the open, rural spaces that are part of what gives our state its unique character.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFor more information about the Bobolink Project, visit www.ProtectBobolinks.org.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 21, 2009 — Alongside the booths offering fruits and vegetables, a new and unusual farm \u201cproduct\u201d is for sale this summer at local farmers\u2019 markets \u2013 the chance to protect tiny bobolink songbirds that nest in local hayfields. The Bobolink Project is an innovative solution to an increasingly critical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}