Beneficial insect conservation is a growing concern in the public zeitgeist, paired with an increase in individual conservation actions. Sustainable landscaping programs are a popular way to engage in conservation and often aim to encourage wide participation by reducing education or cost barriers. However, the reach and outcomes of these programs are rarely evaluated, and there is a need for knowledge about if program structure can help reduce barriers for participants. To understand the spread and reach of these programs, we selected two sustainable landscaping programs in Franklin County, Ohio, USA. The former provides one $50 rebate a year to cover the cost of native plants/trees, and the latter provides educational materials and has a $25 cost to participate. We received participation records for these programs and aggregated them to Census Tracts to assess where people are greening, what barriers were preventing participation in both programs and if participation in one program could lead to or prevent participation in the other. We found that despite removing the cost barrier, the rebate program was significantly more prevalent in high income areas. As expected, the same was true of the program with a cost to participate. We are working with both programs to recommend future actions. We suggest that materials in multiple languages, a reduction in time cost, and providing vouchers rather than rebates may improve participation across Franklin County.
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