The National Wildlife Federation's
Backyward Wildlife Habitat Scheme

A brief introduction

NWF Backyard Wildlife Habitat Scheme

WPM Wildlife Habitat Scheme

WPM Nature initiatives

          Most of this material is from the NWF site and is adapted with permission.

Summary of the NWF scheme

           Back in April 1973, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) ran an article in National Wildlife magazine encouraging people to landscape and garden in a more sustainable, natural way, with wildlife in mind. The response was so overwhelming that NWF began the Backyard Wildlife Habitat program that same year to educate people about the benefits of creating and restoring natural landscapes.

          There are now more than 31,500 NWF certified habitats in the US and worldwide. They are mostly private habitats, but there are an increasing number of habitats in workplaces, neighborhoods and communities. There is also a special program for schools, and another for colleges and universities.

          Your habitat will be entered into the National Registry of Backyard Wildlife Habitat sites. Participation in the Backyard Wildlife Habitat program will help you save a place for wildlife right in your own backyard and community, while enriching the natural world around you. You will learn how to restore wildlife habitat in your own yard, balcony, workplace, or even your entire community.

Benefits

• You will receive an NWF certificate, suitable for framing, that designates your property as part of the NWF's national registry of habitat sites.
• You will be eligible to display an attractive yard sign.
• If you wish, an announcement of your achievement will be sent by NWF to news media in your area, to help publicize your accomplishment and the habitat message.
• You get a free lifetime subscription to the program's official newsletter, Habitats.
• You can get your own free personal gallery at the National Wildlife Federation website, to display photos of your habitat and its wildlife.

Four steps towards certifying

1. Assess Your Yard or Garden Space

Identify the habitat elements that already exist in your yard or garden space. You may be already providing some habitat for wildlife! Native plants that provide food and cover are the backbone of every habitat. Make a list of all the plants in your yard, including everything from trees to wildflowers. Try to determine which of your plants are native to your area and which are not. Which existing plants might provide food such as seeds, fruits, nuts, and nectar? Which plants might provide safe cover or nesting places? Determine how your yard might already provide water for wildlife. This could be in the form of a pond, water garden, stream, vernal pool, or birdbath. Make a list of any structures that provide potential sites to raise young, such as dead trees, rock walls, or log piles. Finally, consider the physical features of your yard such as sun and wind exposure and soil conditions.

2. Provide the Four Basic Elements

All species have four basic requirements for survival. These are food, water, cover, and places to raise young.

Food

Because native plants and wildlife have co-evolved, restoration or conservation of native plant communities in your yard should be the main emphasis of your habitat project. Select plants that provide natural foods such as fruits, seeds, nuts, and nectar throughout the year. Native perennials and annuals provide nectar for both butterflies and hummingbirds. Hummingbirds tend to visit tube-shaped, red flowers such as bee balm, wild columbine, and our native honeysuckles. Butterflies prefer flat or clustered flowers, such as purple coneflower, phlox, zinnias or buddleia. By choosing native plants suited to the site conditions, little maintenance, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or additional watering will be needed for the plants to thrive. This all adds up to time and cost savings as well as a healthier habitat for you, your family, and wildlife. Supplemental feeders can provide nectar for hummingbirds in the summer months and a variety of seed (sunflower, niger, safflower, and millet) for other birds throughout the year. Bird feeders should only be used as a supplement to natural food provided by native plants.

Water

Wildlife needs water all the year round, for drinking, bathing, and breeding. Water can be supplied in a birdbath, or a shallow dish. If you're lucky enough to have a natural pond, stream, vernal pool, or other wetland on your property, make sure to preserve or restore it. A small pond provides water for drinking and bathing, as well as cover and reproductive areas for small fish, insects, amphibians, and reptiles.

Cover

Include a good clump of evergreen trees and shrubs to provide year-round protective cover from weather and predators. Juniper, hollies, and live oaks provide food as well as cover. Plant deciduous shrubs to offer summer cover for nesting and escape from predators. Rock, log, and mulch piles also offer good cover. Small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and a great variety of insects and other small animals find homes in these structures.

Places to Raise Young

Evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs provide nesting areas for birds. Do you have any dead or dying trees? If so, don't reach for the chainsaw! Dying or dead trees are excellent habitat features. They are excavated and used by woodpeckers, flying squirrels, and a multitude of insects and cavity-nesting birds, such as owls, bluebirds, chickadees, and wrens. Rabbits, shrews, mice, snakes, and salamanders lay their eggs or raise young under boughs of plants as well as in the rock, log, or mulch piles. Nest boxes for birds and bats can be placed in your backyard. Aquatic animals, such as frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies, and other insects, deposit their eggs in ponds, vernal pools, and other wetlands. Butterflies require "host" plants that serve as food sources for butterflies during their larval (caterpillar) stage. Butterflies almost invariably lay their eggs on the host plant preferred by the caterpillar, so make sure to include some of the host plants in your habitat.

3. Practice Resource Conservation in your Own Backyard

Plant native plants suited to your region and do not plant any invasive exotics (non-native plants). Establish a backyard wetland or drainage buffer area to filter storm water and limit runoff. Capture roof rain water for use in planted areas. Use mulch to conserve soil moisture and cut down on weeding time. Use a drip soaker hose instead of a sprinkler if watering is needed to help your plants become established. Eliminate chemical use in your yard. Control pests by organic means. Let nature take its course and encourage beneficial insects (e.g., ladybug, praying mantis), birds, bats and other insect eaters. Reduce or eliminate your lawn area to cut down on mowing, watering and general maintenance.

4. Apply for certification

Application is easy and involves filling in a simple form available on the Web at:  or by mail from National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat Questions 11100 Wildlife Center Drive Reston, VA 20190-5362 Tel: (703) 438-6000
The form covers what plants and wildlife the site has, what elements of food, water, cover and places to raise young there are, and what you do to conserve resources. You need to attach photos or a sketch of your habitat area. There is a one-off fee of $15, which also covers any future home you might move to.

Taoist tips from a lazy gardener

        The idea of the Pan garden is to welcome nature, care for it, revere it, and remove barriers between the natural world and our lives. That's what it is about. It's the spirit of the garden that counts.

        Have places to sit and meditate, and watch the birds, insects, and mammals. A bench, chair, hammock etc will make the garden much more friendly for you.

        Neatness is optional. Some like it tidy. Some don't care. If the local fauna, flora, you, and fellow Pans find the garden welcoming you indeed have a Pan Garden! Nature does not award points for neatness.

        Have fun. If it's not fun don't do it. Remember nature will not abandon the plot just because you are lazy. It will just get more natural.

        Avoid monoculture. The Chemlawn lawn is not a Pan Garden. Minimize lawns. More lawns mean more work but less habitat. Just what you don't want.

        Weeds are not enemies. They are the just plants in the wrong place. Don't make your life a slave to weed destruction. Weed as little as possible. Dandelions are as beautiful as grass.

        Go with the flow. Remember water flows downhill. Use natural drainage patterns to determine which plantings go where.

        Let it happen. Don't put in a walkway the first spring. Instead seed with grass and let people's feet wear a path in the lawn. The worn grass will reveal where people like to walk. Then in the fall put the walkway where the feet have worn a path. That's going with the Tao. The garden will feel right to stroll through.

Walt Mandell