Virginia Regional Native Plant Campaign Model Expanding State-wide
In July and August 2019, the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries partnered to offer workshops to build the capacity of regional and local partners to apply the regional native plant marketing model beyond Virginia’s coastal zone. As a result of the two workshops in Culpeper, Harrisonburg and Rocky Mount, two new regional campaigns are under development.
The Plant Southern Piedmont Natives campaign will first be piloted in the West Piedmont Planning District Commission. (The Plant Piedmont Natives campaign has been renamed Plant Northern Piedmont Natives.)
Plant Southwest Virginia Natives campaign partners have also started meeting, and have applied for a grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment to help launch the campaign.
The growing state-wide initiative will continue the goals of the campaign work in Virginia’s coastal zone:
Increase the knowledge and use of plants native to the region, according to the Flora of Virginia.
Help landowners learn more about their property and the benefits of a native plant landscape and conservation landscaping, and how by planting natives they can impact the ecological diversity and sustainability of natural landscapes beyond their property, neighborhood, and community.
Engage with local garden centers in the region to promote the native plants they currently carry and to increase the supply and variety of the native plants they carry.
Engage with local jurisdictions on policies that could be strengthened in favor of native plant landscaping.
The regional native plant marketing model leverages partner resources, creates consistent messaging and provides a rallying point for partners. The Virginia Native Plant Society focused their 2020 fundraising efforts on helping to print regional guides, and the generosity of contributors has resulted in over $34,000 set-aside for this purpose.
Together with these partners, Virginia CZM has been helping grow public demand for, and a social norm in favor of, native plants. In 2009, prior to the Plant ES Natives campaign, the program heard natives still described as scraggly and weedy. Ten years later, with campaigns spreading state-wide, that perception is fading away garden by garden.
