From community gardens to student driven agriculture education to support of local farmers, Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District (ERICD) offers a wide array of vibrant programs and services that preserve our state’s natural resources. Serving Newport and Bristol Counties, ERICD works with landowners, farmers, municipalities, state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and the residential community to protect natural resources such as soil, water, and air.
A key piece of ERICD’s work is collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide resources to farmers and landowners to implement conservation-smart practices on their land that they wouldn’t be able to install otherwise. In addition, ERICD partners with Portsmouth School District on the Portsmouth AgInnovation Farm – a student-driven sustainable community agriculture education program that teaches about the environment through experiential learning. The organization also provides funding for community gardens, educates state and local governments for smart environmental legislation, and engages the community to promote conservation practices.
This month ERICD invites our community to participate in its numerous Earth Month programs. The organization will be offering three rain barrel workshops, three plogging (trash pickup) opportunities, a seedling sale, a community learning workshop about residential stormwater, and a clean comedy show. Details for all of these events can be found on their website.