Volunteers Embrace New Technology to Aid in Stewardship

The lifeblood of Avalonia has always been the passion and commitment of its volunteers!  This is no more evident than in the realm of stewardship where we rely on volunteers to maintain trails, monitor properties, and engage in a variety of conservation projects. This important role is something that we give much consideration, especially when adopting new technologies to help us in exercising our mission to … preserve natural habitats in southeastern Connecticut by acquiring and protecting lands, and communicating the value of these irreplaceable resources.

Once again, Avalonia’s volunteers have more than met the call by embracing the use of Landscape land conservation software and its accompanying mobile app. The most recent edition of AVALONIA trails made brief mention of our transition to this cloud-based software and after two formal Zoom training sessions,  two in-the-field trainings, and a number of one-on-one follow ups there is now a “critical mass” of volunteers engaging with the mobile app.  This is due, in large part, to its ease of use, but it is also a testament to the nimbleness of our volunteer base and their recognition that technologies like Landscape can be transformative for organizations like ours.

In addition to helping us manage mowing and annual monitoring tasks, we can track the ebb and flow of encroachment issues and document species observations to name just a few of Landscape’s capabilities.  What is more, we can take a proactive stance in our preserve management by identifying and mapping areas of potential restoration as well as tracking invasive plant populations, anticipating their growth and spread and prioritize resources accordingly. Over the next year, stewardship hopes to increase its use of landscape in all of these areas, making our collective work that much easier!