ALEXANDRIA, La. (KLFY) – The Natural Resources Conservation Service in Louisiana has announced a $330,000 investment in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in order to protect, enhance and restore pollinator habitats in southwest Louisiana.

The eligible areas for this project include Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion Parishes.

Over the past few decades there has been a significant loss of pollinators – including honey bees, native bees, birds, bats and butterflies – from the environment.

Kevin Norton, State Conservationist for the NRCS says this is a serious problem that requires immediate action to ensure the sustainability of the state’s food production system.

“NRCS will work with private landowners in southwest Louisiana to protect and enhance grassland systems and provide sustainable native pollinator habitat. Interested landowners and livestock producers need to visit their local NRCS office as soon as possible, because the application period for this special opportunity ends June 17, 2016.” said Norton.

The NRCS has been coordinating a federal pollinator strategy with the USGS’s Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, the EPA’s Gulf of Mexico Program, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to develop a multi-faceted approach that will focus on education, public & private partnerships and landscape level activities.

Interested landowners and producers should contact their local USDA Service Center for more information.

Applications for assistance must be received by June 17, 2016.