Colorado Native Plant Society Live Webinar: An Evening with Scott Hoffman Black A Win-Win for Insects: Nature-Based Climate Solutions Address both Climate Change and Biodiversity Concerns Wednesday, July 27, 2022; 6:30-8:00 pm Mountain Time > You can thank insect pollinators for one-third of every mouthful of food that you eat. > Without small flies in streams for young fish to eat, your last grilled salmon would have been impossible. > If you like songbirds, you can thank an insect – 96 percent of birds rely on insects for survival. With well over one million known species, insects and other invertebrates eclipse all other forms of life on Earth. They are essential to the reproduction of most flowering plants, including many fruits, vegetables, and nuts; they are food for birds, fish, and other animals; they filter water and help clean rivers and streams; and they clean up waste from plants and animals. Just four of the many insect services—dung burial, pest control, pollination, and wildlife nutrition—have an estimated annual value in the United States alone of at least $70 billion. Though they are indisputably important, insects and other invertebrates are experiencing a multicontinental crisis evident as reductions in abundance, diversity, and biomass. Given the centrality of insects to terrestrial and freshwater aquatic ecosystems and the food chain that supports humans, the potential importance of this crisis cannot be overstated. The loss of insect diversity is driven by habitat loss and degradation, pesticide use, climate change, diseases, and more. The science is clear: It is impossible to address the loss of biodiversity without addressing climate change, but equally impossible to tackle the full impacts of climate change without working to protect and enhance biodiversity. Scott will discuss how nature-based solutions can address both. Scott Hoffman Black is an internationally-recognized conservationist who has been at the forefront of the conservation movement for three decades. He is Executive Director of the Xerces Society, which under his leadership has become the largest invertebrate conservation non-profit on the world. Scott’s work has led to protection and restoration of habitat on millions of acres of rangelands, forests, and farmland, as well as protection for many endangered species. He is an author of the best-selling Attracting Native Pollinators and Gardening for Butterflies, and has written more than two hundred other publications. His work has been honored with several awards, including the 2011 Colorado State University College of Agricultural Sciences Honor Alumnus Award, the U.S. Forest Service Wings Across the Americas 2012 Butterfly Conservation Award, the 2019 Wings Across the Americas International Research Partnership Award, and a 2020 Nature's Choice Award from the Greater Good Foundation.