EMD Pollinator Habitat & Education Program

About the Program
EMD Serono’s campus in Billerica, Massachusetts has over 37 acres of habitat. In 2018, the company completed a preliminary habitat and environmental resources assessment to understand existing environmental conditions on the campus and establish a program to support pollinator species throughout its various landscapes. The team has committed to a long-term, site-wide landscaping effort that provides a wide variety of forage plants, water features and protected nesting sites for pollinators. Strategies include the addition of rocks, log piles and plants of different heights and leaving dead woody and plant material such as twigs, plant fibers, leaves and catkins in these areas. EMD seeks to transform its corporate campus into a living landscape leveraging the power of pollinators to benefit local and regional ecology. The team also engages the local community in education and outreach events on and offsite. These efforts are aligned with the Urban Bee Laboratory goals of supporting pollinator health and combating multiple stress disorder as well as EMD's larger sustainability initiatives. 

Practices and Impacts

• Planning and design for a shift in landscape practices from a corporate campus dominated by lawn toward ecological resilience began in 2016. Implementation began in 2018 to support pollinator-friendly and other ecological best practices including plantings and habitat features specific to pollinators.
• The entry circle landscape project selected species for their nectar and pollen resources as well as color and durability. Perennials are moved into the entry circle as they bloom, and they are moved back to an adjacent resting bed to regenerate. Seasonal aspects including early, mid, late and fall planting combinations were taken into account, and management practices such as mowing has been adjusted to a four-inch height with overseeding of low-mow grasses.
• For the pollinator savannah project, the former lawn and parking area was restored through amendment with food waste compost and multiple cycles of overseeding and tilling to restore nitrogen and carbon. The area was aerated, re-composted and seeded with upland warm season grass mix and allowed to stabilize the thin soils. In 2020, four supplemental wildflower seeding methods were tested: direct seeding, clay seed bomb, wormcast seed bomb and amended polyacrylamide slurry.
• A number of educational programs have been developed to reach out to interested employees and the larger community.  Landscaped projects are used to illustrate the ecological importance of pollinators and the need to conserve their habitat.