Pollinator Support Funding to Sustain Food Supply and Climate Resilience Coming to Fruition
- Ben Cheever
- Communications Director
- ben.cheever@asm.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton) issued the following statement today in response to Governor Newsom’s proposed funding for our state’s pollinator habitats.
“I want to thank the Governor for working with me to include $30 million in his May Revise Budget Proposal to fund my bill Assembly Bill 391,” said Assemblymember Villapudua. “This funding will help protect and grow our state’s pollinating animal populations by building upon and enhancing programs that support their habitats and forage. These significant developments will help to sustain our food supplies while advancing our biodiversity and climate resiliency goals. We are excited to bring this aid to the state’s small family farms in a manner that simultaneously works to protect our environment.”
Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles and other small pollinating animals are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. Their pollinating activities sustain our ecosystems and facilitates the reproduction of many flowering plants that yield fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, fibers and raw materials, and helps draw down carbon into plant material and soils, reducing erosion, suppressing invasive weeds, and allowing native plants and species to thrive.
Assembly Bill 391 was introduced earlier this year to build upon Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-82-20, charging the State to conserve 30 percent of habitat for biodiversity by 2030 and enacting climate resilience. To achieve these aims, state, federal, agricultural, and conservation organizations recognized the co-beneficial opportunity and developed resources to expand pollinator habitat and forage on farms and ranches. This scale of funding will help bring together these critical elements to accelerate best pollinator support and practices within California’s landscapes.
"Today’s announcement of $30 million in the Governor’s May Revision will provide funding to deliver technical assistance, outreach, and grants to incentivize participation in state and federal conservation programs where pollinator habitat and forage is established. We thank Assemblymember Villapudua for his leadership on AB 391 and the Governor for agreeing to fund important activities that accelerate the adoption of conservation practices designed to integrate pollinator habitat and forage on working lands,” said Almond Alliance President, Elaine Trevino.
We look forward to continuing these discussions and cementing this funding in the state’s budget for our essential pollinators.