Conservation Starts In Your Own Backyard

 by Fran Withrow 09.2020

It’s easy to get discouraged these days, what with the pandemic, the ongoing struggle for racial equality, and the political scene. So it was with reluctance that I started “Nature’s Best Hope,” because reading about the decline of wildlife populations on top of everything else makes me want to hide and eat chocolate.

 But author Douglas Tallamy has a suggestion for us, and it encourages me because it is eminently doable. All you have to do is focus on your own backyard.

 Tallamy lays out just how important wildlife is to our future as a human race. Since humans have broken up wildlife habitat into little sections, we have made it much harder for wildlife to feed, reproduce, and ultimately nourish us. Tallamy focuses on insects as they are absolutely vital for our survival. There’s been a lot of talk recently about pollinators and how they enable us to grow food. But all insects have their place in the chain. Insects are “the little things that run the world.” 

 Caterpillars are especially valuable, as they are protein packed soft food for nestlings. One researcher found a chickadee pair that delivered at least 350 caterpillars to their offspring in one day!

 But if you want to have caterpillars, you need plants.

 Plants vary in their value to wildlife. Tallamy calls some plants and trees “keystone plants” because they host the most wildlife. Oaks, cherries, and willow trees are keystone plants, hosting hundred of caterpillar species.  He cautions us to avoid the introduced plants that we tend to love because they look so exotic, as their ability to host wildlife is greatly limited compared to natives.

 So where to begin? Tallamy says the first thing to do is to reduce the size of our lawns. If every household reduced the grass portion of their lawns by half, we could begin to create the greatest park ever: “The Homegrown National Park.” Working together, our Homegrown Park will allow wildlife and plants to connect more easily with each other rather than being stuck in small spaces not large enough to accommodate them. Get rid of those invasives and plant natives instead. Don’t spray or fertilize. (I was surprised to learn that spraying for adult mosquitos is the most expensive and least effective way to control them anyway.)

 The book is filled with color pictures of gorgeous flowers, appealing birds, and even the home of a couple who have taken the ideas in this book to heart. Tallamy’s writing is upliftng, full of information in an easily read format.

 I now issue you a challenge: read this book. Then go outside and look at your yard. Can you add more native plants, reduce the amount of grass, and welcome back the wildlife we all depend on?

 Together we can change the world, right now, one backyard at a time. Go for it.