Planning and demonstrating reduced-risk pest management strategies should be a continuous process. Demonstrations and field trials on new innovative ideas, products and services are effective tools to train user groups. IPM demonstration sites helps to provide hands-on education coupled with a relevant, "real-world" example.
For example, the County of Santa Clara Department of Parks and Recreation has dedicated Ed Levin Regional Park to conduct field trials and demonstrations to evaluate reduced-risk chemical and alternative strategies.
Other County-owned sites are also used to conduct short-term trials. Over the course of the time that the IPM program has been functioning, several of these trials and demonstrations have been conducted. Alternative methods that have been proven effective and sustainable have been adopted at a wide scale and have become an integral part of current pest management, resulting in reduced use or elimination of pesticides.
