Examples of habitat identification, farmer incentives and remote monitoring to restore Bobolink Populations in the Maritimes 
 
Sean Rudd is the founder and CEO of Korotu Technology. He leads the development of innovative tools which empower land stewards and communities to harness nature-based solutions to protect biodiversity. 
 
Sean spoke at the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s (CFGA) 16th Annual Conference: Greener Horizons: Technological Innovations in Forage and Grassland Management. The conference took place Nov. 18 to 21 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and was organized in partnership with the New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association (NBSCIA). 
 
During his presentation, Sean showed how data is powering grassland conservation. He shared examples of how habitat identification, farmer incentives and remote monitoring are being used to help restore bobolink populations in the Maritimes. 
 
His company uses the Aroa platform to measure ecosystems and to provide reporting and validation for clients interested in nature-based solutions. The geographic information systems (GIS) allow his clients to do forest carbon mapping, grassland habitat and species at risk (SAR) assessment and other work. 
 
His talk focused on how the technology can help land stewards create and improve on-farm agri-environmental programs, such as improving habitat for SAR, like the bobolink. Since 1970, grassland bird populations have dropped by 67 per cent and, according to Birds Canada, the classification of bird known as native grassland specialists has decreased by 90 per cent. 
 
“The bobolink nests in the grass and they like it at least 10 centimetres,” he explained. “They breed in May and establish nests around hay or grazed fields.” 
 
One program available to farms is the Delayed Hay Program, where hay cutting and deferred grazing of forage fields helps support the population recovery for bobolinks and other ground nesting birds.  
 
“Delaying cutting and harvesting of grass until after July 15 makes a difference,” he said, adding the program offers a financial incentive of $62 per hectare, per year. 
 
The process begins by assessing the population. This includes gauging the forage type, identifying areas which are preferred by bobolink and looking for bobolink activity. Once that is assessed, it’s time to look at the grass density, field age, field size and past nesting areas. Sean did note that the bobolink does not like heavily forested areas, wind turbines or suburban areas and does not typically nest in these areas. 
 
A suitability land analysis was done in Prince Edward Isand and New Brunswick which identified 250 fields that could potentially support bobolink breeding. However, Sean said there is a lack of ground truth about the impact. 
 
“There’s ongoing efforts to engage farmers,” he said. “We’re looking at using audio monitors to validate the presence of bobolink.” 
 
The Korotu technology provides land stewards with a web-based platform to collect and analyze data and collaborate by sharing observations, such as bird sightings. 
 
“It’s important to protect biodiversity across the county,” he said. “My bias is to localize it and achieve improvement by region.” 
 
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