I first remember being aware of the world’s population in the mid-1960s. At that time it was 3.5 billion. Today the human population on our globe is more than 8 billion and growing. It is easy to visualize how that population growth has been detrimental to other species. Plant and animal diversity across the world has suffered. But the ecological crisis that humanity has contributed to is largely reversible if just a few dos and don’ts are followed. Doug Tallamy, founder of the Homegrown National Park movement says it this way, “In the past we have asked one thing of our gardens, that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”
Tallamy is the author of the book “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard.” Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Sixth Extinction,” Elizabeth Kolbert, “Tallamy lays out all you need to know to participate in one of the great conservation projects of our time. Read it and get started!”
The easy things we can do are plant native plants, collect rainwater, remove invasive species and encourage others to do the same. And please don’t plant non-native turf grass, or use herbicides and pesticides or mow native flowers and grasses before they have had time to set seed. Perhaps the easiest and most important thing you can do is plant native plants that will help produce oxygen, clean water, control flooding, store carbon and provide pollination.
I just joined the grassroots movement and put my little half acre on the map as a Homegrown National Park. This movement, started by Tallamy, encourages landowners to commit to the safe ecological practices listed above. Wouldn’t it be great to see this movement grow until there is a continuous corridor of native plant spaces across the nation? It pleased me to see on the map that many Texans, including a few in our Wimberley Valley, had joined this movement. (homegrownnationalpark. org), The Homegrown National Park initiative offers hope in a time when our world is facing unprecedented environmental challenges. As individuals are empowered to act together we can create a greenspace network that serves as a refuge for wildlife of all kinds. At the same time we will be promoting a deeper connection to the natural world for ourselves and others.
