Meet Doug Tallamy, the man behind what is being referred to as the largest cooperative conservation project ever conceived or attempted. The concept, dubbed Homegrown National Park, involves people all over the country taking whatever green space they have and planting native species there. The key to the project is small efforts by many people. By restoring native biodiversity, Homegrown National Park hopes to restore ecosystem function and help offset climate change and help save the environment.
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.”
DOUG TALLAMY
The project hopes to reach 20 million acres of native plantings, or 50% of the country’s lawns.
The project stresses mass amounts of people getting involved to make a difference, rather than simply pointing out the problem without offering a way to get involved.
“Homegrown National Park™ is a term coined by Doug and is the key to our call-to-action:
Our National Parks, no matter how grand in scale, are too small and separated from one another to preserve species to the levels needed. Thus, the concept for Homegrown National Park, a bottom-up call-to-action to restore habitat where we live and work, and to a lesser extent where we farm and graze, extending national parks to our yards and communities.”
DOUG TALLAMY
The 501(C)-pending charity invites individuals to join through a global map to log their contributions. Anyone can see how the project is taking root. Homegrown National Park helps its community understand the unique needs of their own region to enhance biodiversity through specific planting recommendations. See for example their recent Instagram post, advising exactly how to work within the recommended local species to be planted, while simultaneously accounting for varying size and scale of a household’s yard space.
JOIN THE CAUSE! Homegrown National Park is a grassroots call-to-action to restore biodiversity and ecosystem function by planting native plants and creating new ecological networks. To join the movement and help save the environment, visit the Homegrown National Parks site and get digging.
Our goal is 20 million acres of native plantings in the U.S. This represents approximately ½ of the green lawns of privately-owned properties.”
HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK
