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Conservation Commission Convenes a Conservation Summit

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On Friday, March 29, The Greenwich Conservation Commission hosted its first “Conservation Caboodle” – a gathering of organizations and Town commissions with conservation related interests. The primary purpose of the “Caboodle” was to facilitate an exchange of information to foster collaboration. Participants were asked to share their respective mission statements and top priorities for 2019.

Patricia Sesto, Director of Environmental Affairs, reflected on her first year working with the Conservation Commission. “It has been motivating to realize how many conservation groups there are working in town, and a bit overwhelming to figure out how the Conservation Commission can best support their work and get ours done, too.”

After meeting with many groups over the course of the year, Sesto observed there were opportunities for groups with similar goals or projects to better coordinate their efforts. Bringing all the organizations together was intended to help strengthen the connections.

With the number of groups working in town, it is likely that there would be some duplication of effort and unlikely that everyone would know what the other is focusing on. Some 32 organizations were represented. This included four larger entities, such as The Nature Conservancy and Save the Sound, who work in Greenwich, but are not Greenwich-based. The remaining 28 entities are primarily, if not fully, Greenwich-based, including four town commissions.

Conservation Commission Chairman Bill Rutherford said the commission wants to be available and supportive of the work of these groups. “Despite this desire, we cannot fulfill all that is asked of us; we have set our priorities, as well, and they may not align with the priority of another group at the same time.”

Rutherford said he is pleased the commission can be a central point for the town’s many volunteer environmental groups and is appreciative of all the work they accomplish. He described the organizations as clearly beneficial to the community, accomplishing much more than the town’s environmental commissions could do alone.

The event accomplished its goal of forging connections. Julie DeChamps, chairman of Skip the Straw Greenwich, stated, while “Skip the Straw Greenwich has collaborated with many of the organizations in attendance, the collective discussion was invaluable to expand our knowledge of local environment and the projects initiated to preserve and protect it.”

The gathering also included conservation groups for whom Greenwich is part of broader missions and projects. Contact with these groups is not always in the forefront for collaboration by Greenwich-based organizations, as was identified by JoAnn Messina, executive director of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy. Messina stated, “I thought it was powerful to see all the groups in the room especially those that were not exclusive to Greenwich, good to see that we are part of a larger effort. We tend to go to the same groups for partnerships, however this showed that there were others.”

The participants also identified projects and ideas that resonate with their memberships, but have not gained traction. There was consensus that preservation of trees on private property has value to the community for a number of reasons, however, efforts to dissuade or regulate cutting trees on private property has been largely unsuccessful.

Gary Silberberg, Conservation Commissioner, spoke to the damage from Mylar balloons and the value of prohibiting their sale. He likewise expressed frustration in his inability to gain headway, despite general agreement on the issue.

Participants were invited to “tag” priorities and stalled issues of other groups to facilitate connectivity. Similar efforts can be combined, support can be offered, and/or those with lessons learned can share their experience.

Next steps will be to connect groups with those who “tagged” them and have the Conservation Commission set up a central location for collective information, call for volunteers, public calendar events, and other mutually beneficial information. The group will meet again in the fall of 2019 to continue the expanded collaboration.

For further information, please contact Patricia Sesto, director of environmental affairs, at 203-622-7736 or psesto@greenwichct.org

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