Draft:Ecological Research & Development Group (ERDG)

Ecological Research & Development Group Inc. (ERDG) is an internationally recognized nonprofit wildlife conservation organization.

Overview
ERDG is headquartered in the State of Delaware, USA. The organization’s Just flip' em! program raises awareness about the hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) who die each year from being stranded upside down during their yearly spawning ritual.

In 2022, there are 9 community-based horseshoe crab sanctuaries along the Delaware Bay shores of New Jersey and Delaware.

ERDG is one of the founding members of the international workshop series on the science and conservation of horseshoe crabs. The first workshop was held in the USA in 2007, the second in Hong Kong in 2011, the third in Japan in 2015, and the fourth in China in 2019. It established the International Day of the Horseshoe Crab, celebrated worldwide on June 20th of each year.

ERDG's annual Young Voices Horseshoe Crabs and the Arts program raises species awareness through student artwork K-12.

History
Ecological Research & Development Group Inc. was founded in 1995 by Glenn Gauvry, who is also a founding member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – Horseshoe Crab Specialist Group and Chair of the Trade, Industry and Use working group.

In 1998, ERDG launched its website. On June 13th, 2000, then Delaware Governor Thomas Carper visited Broadkill Beach, Delaware, to recognize this Backyard Stewardship community for working with ERDG in establishing Delaware's first community-based horseshoe crab sanctuary.

In 2000, ERDG developed the world's first, and still the only museum-grade life-sized model of a horseshoe crab.

In 2009, ERDG initiated and hosted its first Annual Horseshoe Crab Blessing and Rescue Ceremony on Pickering Beach, Delaware. In the spring of 2018, 2019, and 2020, ERDG installed a 350-foot temporary wooden barrier across a stretch of beach.