by Nan Lee and Juliet Lamont
From May until the end of August, North Haven’s nature and ecology were the focus of a new island-based environmental group – the Water, Earth, Birds, and Bugs Initiative (W.E.B.B.). W.E.B.B. helps to sponsor and highlight educational collaborations around nature and culture, partnering with numerous, existing local organizations. In just one year, W.E.B.B. has expanded significantly, drawing in new members and new energy. We celebrate North Haven’s unique natural heritage while seeking to protect and restore important elements of that heritage, allowing our island and residents to thrive and ensure a sustainable future.
W.E.B.B. kicked off the summer by co-sponsoring – with North Haven Conservation Partners (NHCP) and Waterman’s Community Center (WCC) – a talk by renowned conservationist and speaker, Doug Tallamy. His Zoom presentation focused on the importance of native plants in promoting biodiversity. Biodiversity helps to combat the destructive impact of climate disruption while simultaneously restoring healthy water, soils, pollinator habitat, and landscapes. The recorded talk link is available on the NHCP website, at https://northhavenconservation.org/past-events/ .
In August, again in collaboration with NHCP and WCC, WEBB brought in Drs. Christian Walzer and Teresa Duncan from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS, to give a keynote presentation describing the environmental organization’s integrated OneHealth approach. OneHealth focuses on the intersection of ecological and human health, where degradation of habitat and the proliferation of wildlife markets can lead to impacts such as the emergence of new viruses (like COVID!), among other public health concerns. Conversely, when we protect and restore our landscapes, wildlife, and habitat, we receive the multiple benefits – the “win-wins” – that emerge across such critical issues as pandemic and disease containment, water quality improvement, soil regeneration, and restoration of biodiversity for food production.
Beyond these keynote events, WEBB partnered with WCC for its popular Friday Coffee and Compost (C&C) series. July kicked off with Zeb Campbell’s marvelous description of his beekeeping business, held outdoors with demonstration hives and his own bees. The rapt audience learned about the importance of pollinators for overall sustainability, as well as Zeb’s efforts to promote “no-mow” spring/summer schedules to protect habitat, and the importance of eliminating pesticide use to lessen devastating impacts on bees and other pollinators.
Plants took center stage as Peggy Mayfield gave a hands-on demonstration on how to propagate healthy trees and shrubs from cuttings, as a way to ensure the preservation of robust plant health and genes. Attendees had a chance to prepare their own cuttings, learning new techniques for ensuring plant success, particularly for native plant species. Becky Bartovics brought another wonderful perspective to plants, farming, and landscapes, highlighting the the earth’s cycle of life and natural regeneration through organic composting. Her talk touted its many benefits, from reduction of food waste, to regeneration of nutrient-rich soils and landscape systems, to conservation of water by using mulch from compost. The talk provoked a number of comments about how composting could become an effective, standard practice on-island, to address compelling challenges around waste and landfill constraints, as well as dwindling water supply.
Our vital ocean ecosystem found a voice in the final C&C talk of the summer, through local businesswoman Karin Cooper’s presentation around aquaculture, and specifically kelp, salt and lobsters. She focused on kelp farming, which is not only good for sea water and carbon sequestration, but also a delicious, savory food, and a way to enhance aquaculture and economic diversification. Karin even brought a few lobsters along so that people could learn how to tell the difference between a female and male!
Upcoming plans for WEBB include creating a website through which it will share environmental information and initiatives generated on the island as well as insights from other ecology groups and the State of Maine . In the meantime we will use this column to bring readers up to date with new ideas, opportunities and factual information with the goal of involving everyone living here, year-round and summer residents, in understanding and addressing the critical environmental problems facing us.
For example, we all realize that this summer, and most recent summers, have seemed hotter and dryer than usual. Maine’s state website (maine.Gov) confirms that most of the state has been in a condition of drought for over three years. The website reports that nearly 26% of the state is abnormally dry, almost 32% is in moderate drought, and a little over 8% is experiencing severe drought. Conditions are not expected to improve in the short term. These conditions have had an effect on 76% of Maine’s population.
Irrigation has become a necessity for many farmers; the Stonington Water Company
has issued mandatory water use restrictions and is currently augmenting its supply with water transported by tanker, and a ‘dry well survey” undertaken by the State has reported cases of poor water quality as well as wells that have run completely dry.
Currently, the town of North Haven, as part of its efforts to look carefully to the future, is undertaking a hydrological study of our single aquifer, Fresh Pond. The town is also seeking information about the status of residential wells. Please contact the town if you have a residential well; every bit of information helps create an accurate “map” of our island water needs. If we each contribute a little, we can accomplish a lot!