What do pheasants, grey partridge, butterflies, bees and farmers have in common? The answer’s easy—they all benefit from Pheasants Forever’s Save the Edges campaign.
Save the Edges recognized from its inception that those small strips of habitat found in public roadside ditches and undeveloped right-of-ways, when left intact, are critical for the birds and the bees! And the farmers!
Bees, along with butterflies, are our most important pollinators, and they’re under threat in Alberta.
Science tells us that these pollinators are a vital part of a healthy ecosystem while also playing a crucial role in crop production. And good pollinator habitat is good pheasant habitat.
Research also shows that when these linear strips are maintained in native vegetation, they provide ecosystem services well beyond their value as habitat for pollinators that are critical to food and crop production, and to the birds and wildlife that we all enjoy.
Naturally-vegetated public roadside ditches and undeveloped right-of-ways also:
- Filter excess nutrients including phosphorous and nitrogen, preventing them from entering our rivers, lakes and groundwater systems.
- Minimize overland flooding by storing, slowing and absorbing excess water, helping to protect roads, culverts and agricultural fields.
- Store thousands of tons of carbon, preventing it from entering the atmosphere.
- Sustain species that prey on agricultural pests.
- Provide thousands of acres of habitat for grassland-dependent mammals and birds, including pheasants and grey partridge.
To learn more about the importance of pollinators on our landscape, and their link to pheasants, check out the latest issue of the Pheasants Forever Journal of Upland Conservation you receive as a Pheasants Forever member.
And watch, too, for our spring roll-out of Save the Edges ads in print and on the radio starting April of 2025.