Imagine that relatively easy actions you can take in your yard will meaningfully "restore and protect the natural habitats that support all life" (Homegrown National Park mission).  Now imagine that your near neighbors, your whole neighborhood, your whole town, and the neighboring town also take those actions to enlarge and restore native habitats.  

 

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Image: Get on the Homegrown National Park Biodiversity Map!

 

Last month, the Sierra Club Connecticut Greater Hartford Group joined with the West Hartford Public Library and others to host a talk with author Doug Tallamy, entomologist and ecologist at Delaware University, about his vision for how all of us can protect biodiversity. Dr. Tallamy's work combines his 4+ decades of research on how insects interact with plants and how those interactions determine the biodiversity of animal communities, plus applying his ideas to restoring biodiversity on a 10-acre plot of depleted farm property, plus developing strategies that we can all use to do the same thing. Here is a recap of his Homegrown National Park approach to conserving wildlife and habitats. 

 

 

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Image: The Sierra Club Connecticut Greater Hartford Group cohosted a presentation with Dr. Doug Tallamy on March 11.

 

Why the emphasis on biodiversity and restoring native habitat? The earth needs a lot of plants and animals of many different species to sustain the tremendous variety of living things that we often take for granted and that provide critical ecosystem services that we rely on: clean air and water, flood control, pollination for our food, pest control, and carbon storage. But while we are drawn to nature and wildlife, humans have converted a huge amount of wild and open space to paved-over and built-up spaces, which threatens the collapse of ecosystems and puts the future of all life, including human life, at risk.  

 

Early conservationists created national parks, which are valuable spaces, but they cover only a small portion of the U.S., they're separated from each other by large distances, and most national park acreage is located west of the Mississippi River. To restore biodiversity, much more space is needed for wildlife, especially in the eastern U.S., and those spaces need to be closer to each other.  

 

Dr. Tallamy's solution? The title of the organization, Homegrown National Park, answers that question. The U.S. has 135 million acres of residential space (5 times more than all the land managed by the national parks system), and that includes 40 million acres of lawns.  Many lawns are dominated by turf grass, which is not native to North America, provides no benefits but does require a lot of water, is often treated with pesticides, and takes up space that could benefit wildlife.Reducing lawn space and substantially increasing the amount of space for native plants, which provide food and shelter for crucial insect and other wildlife, will meaningfully increase biodiversity and improve ecosystems.  

 

Why native plants? They grow and have grown without human intervention for many thousands of years within specific ecosystems in relationships with other species, and they are essential to the health and productivity of those ecosystems.  They are especially important to insects, which Dr. Tallamy refers to as "the little things that run the world." 

 

The good news? Shrinking your lawn by planting native plants enlarges wildlife habitat areas. When your neighbors also do that, the result is more wildlife spaces close to each other.  One other very important action is urgently needed in this process, sooner rather than later, and that's removing invasive plants.  You know them, because you have them on your property or you see them growing over trees along the highway.  They're non-native plants that were introduced to North America from other places such as Europe or Asia.  They provide little to no benefit to wildlife but spread rapidly (deer and other species don’t keep them in check) and displace native plants that are needed by wildlife. 

 

How do we know that reducing lawns and increasing wildlife habitat will make a difference? The proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes. After removing invasive plants (credit to his wife), Dr. Tallamy and his wife added native plants and also allowed native plants that came up and spread on their own in the spaces. Now, he has documented more than 60 bird species and more than 1300 species of moths on their 10 acres of exhausted farmland where mostly invasives grew.

 

This short article just scratches the surface, and Dr. Tallamy tells the story much more eloquently. Check out one of his books such as Bringing Nature Home, and look for interviews with him on YouTube.  But especially, go to homegrownnationalpark.org and participate in the movement.  The website has everything you need, including inspiration, to start restoring and protecting the natural habitat in your yard. 

 

Chris Feely is a Sierra Club Greater Hartford Group Executive Committee Member.