Come inside, come inside, come innnsiiiide y'all! It's way too hot to be chatting outside today even if you have a cold one & a fan in hand! 😊 So how is everyone doing? So glad you're here today and spending some time with me. I know our time is valuable & I'm grateful you're here. Plus you get to cool down a spell.
Today I want to chat with you about turning your space into a certified wildlife habitat. I get asked all the time what the process is. And surprisingly many people think it's either complicated or maybe their yard wouldn't be acceptable or it's not big enough or they don't have enough plants. Once I explain how easy it is & that all kinds of habitats are accepted the sigh of relief spreads across their face.
So what's the point in certifying your area as a wildlife habitat? Why does it matter?
Great question!
One of the main reasons is because it's a good way to support the efforts from organizations like National Wildlife Federation (NWF) & the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) who help conserve areas for our native wildlife. As well as working with indigenous tribes to learn about their traditions & history with the land, to help them rectify environmental injustices. And work with politicians to help create policies to protect our countries wild areas among other important environmental work. These are only a few of the important scopes of work organizations like these do on a daily basis.
Another major reason is to help spread the word & work by leading by example & to help educate your neighbors & neighborhood. It's not obligatory to purchase one of the yard signs, but by having one of these organizations yard signs, will help others see your intentions with what you planted & why you created it. This is a great way to signify to your neighborhood "hey come check out what we did, you can do it too!" Especially for those people who literally have no idea about the importance of keeping as many natural spaces as possible. Trust me, you'd be surprised at how many there are! You'll also be delightfully surprised at how interested your neighbors and passer-byers will be at your cool certified wildlife habitat. Annnnd it's a great segway to start a dialogue with others about how important it is to save, rewild and/or create green spaces for our critters. Imagine how many garden parties and/or garden tours you could have, how fun it could be!
I recently came across a lovely blog called "Nurture Native Nature" & this person put together a perfect explanation for some great reasons to certify your place. One of their main reasons is they feel that by putting the yard signs where people can see them in the yard can allow others to understand the intent with their landscape design, as mentioned above. They planted mainly natives that can look unkempt to some people, like a wildflower garden can. Depending on where you live, natives can have seasonal changes, which can also make people think the yard is bare or not landscaped when really the plants are dormant or have died back. They also go into detail about what they do in their garden to support local wildlife. This person is in the Atlanta area & absolutely love their instagram page as well, full of great content!
Having the signs posted at your place also helps the people looking at your garden understand how we can co-exist with nature especially in urban areas. It burns my chaps when I see people turn to artificial turf quicker than considering live plants. Helloooo, it's plastic that literally increases the heat in your yard like a furnace! It's already hot enough why add more fuel to the fire.
Plus the more people see the certified wildlife yard signs the more normalized it will become. Talk about being a trend setter!
So what are the requirements?
An ideal space that will meet the requirements for certification must provide food, water, cover, a place to raise young & sustainability of at least 3 actions that will help ensure a clean & healthy environment.
Food - a minimum of 3 sources of food - for example: pollinators would need nectar plants & host plants - birds & mammals would need plants, seeds, berries, bugs, flowers, nectar
Water - at least one clean water source - for example: birds & mammals need it for bathing & drinking - insects need it for breeding & hydrating themselves
Cover - a minimum of 2 sources - animals need shelter to raise their young, take cover from bad weather & predators & can be an area as a food source.
Place to Raise Their Young - a minimum of two sources - animals need areas to nest, protect, feed & raise their young - this could be a multitude of things like nesting boxes, trees, shrubbery, ground boxes, fallen logs, etc.
Sustainability - at least three ways you can help the soil, air & water stay clean & healthy - like composting, using fallen leaves as mulch, removing invasive species, replacing sod with plants, reducing light pollution, etc.
The application fee is $25 (tax deductible), you get certified, a paper certificate, one year membership to NWF, a one year subscription of their wildlife magazine & their free e-newsletters. The metal outdoor yard signs are sold separately & start at $35
NWF even has a quiz you can take without supplying your email to see if your space fits the profile. The quiz provides answers you click on. It asks the following: what is the type of place you want to certify, the size of the space, the percentage of native plants in the space, what types of food sources you have on site, what sources of cover do you have for protection, what type of places you have for animals to raise their babies, what types of water sources you have & how you are maintaining a sustainable habitat. And at the end they give you a 20% discount, yay!
You can also certify your yard as a butterfly wildlife habitat with North American Butterfly Association (NABA). Which is super cool as well!
Even if you don't have a space that you can certify, not to fret, you can still donate to these non-profit organizations. Or you can certify your school, your business, your place of worship, farm, apartment, a neighbor, friend or family member as a wonderful gift. 💕 Surprise, I certified your yard! 😁
It's that easy...so what are you waiting for!?! Get your place or your school or your friends place certified...you'll feel so good you did & the animals will thank you!
I thank you for being here & spending some of your precious time with me! 🥰
Until next time my friends, stay hydrated & happy gardening!
Best Wishes,
Sheri
xoxo
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