Written By: Sarah Girton
The continual destruction of natural wildlife habitat can be especially disheartening for those of us who find comfort and joy in the serenity of nature. Every year thousands of acres of land are repurposed to make room for subdivisions, shopping centers, agriculture, and other human activities. With that comes the loss of homes and food sources for the native wildlife and plant species that once dwelled there.
But it’s not all doom and gloom…in fact there are measures that YOU can take in your very own yards to combat this loss of habitat. Instead of the traditional grass lawn, planting native foliage provides much needed respite to birds, pollinators, and other wildlife. Did you know that the National Wildlife Federation even has a program where you can get your yard certified as a wildlife habitat?
Over the next few weeks we will be going in depth on each of these criteria, and how you can provide them at home.
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If you are interested in getting your yard certified, you can visit nwf.org/certifedwildlifehabitat to learn more. Among the required criteria are providing food, shelters, and water to your precious visitors.
In the same vein, there is even a program to implement community gardens that serve the same purpose! This program implements a point system that includes goals for education and outreach, as well as administrative and registration tasks. Currently there are 200 communities across the US that participate. If you’d like to get involved, visit https://www.nwf.org/communitywildlifehabitat
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PS…Did you know that Wild Birds Unlimited is the NWF’s Habitat Champion for our contributions to bird habitats around the country?
Stay tuned each week as we delve into each of the criteria for certifying your yard, and make sure you are subscribed so that you never miss a post!
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