Text and photo by Paula Dittrick, TMNCPC blogmaster
Douglas W. Tallamy advocates the Homegrown National Park concept, urging individuals to convert at least part of their typical lawns into a more productive ecosystem.
He elaborates in his book Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard.
The goal is that landowners everywhere participate in creating the Homegrown National Park. A web site features a Homegrown National Park map. Lynn Trenta, Texas Master Naturalist Coastal Prairie Chapter member and Courier Newsletter Editor, registered Seabourne Creek Nature Park on this map.
Tallamy said that if enough property owners participate in the National Homegrown Park, the movement could help fill in gaps within the existing but isolated habitat fragments. Public parks, gardens, and other sanctuaries offer isolated patches of green space. Tallamy envisions green space corridors that could help connect these areas.
“What if each American landowner made it a goal to convert half of his or her lawn to productive native plant communities,” Tallamy asks in his book. “Even moderate success could collectively restore some semblance of ecosystem function to more than 20 million acres of what is now ecological wasteland.”
Specialized relationships between animals and plants are normal in nature, Tallamy said. For example, specialized relationships provide insects and berries for birds. Specialized food relationships support stable, diverse local food webs, which in turn support animal diversity.
Insects sustain the earth’s ecosystems by sustaining plants and animals. Tallamy notes increasing numbers of U.S. citizens appreciate bees as they realize humans cannot exist without the pollination services of bees.
“We can…learn to share the earth with the most essential of all creatures, the little insect fairies at our feet,” Tallamy said.