As I read Doug Tallamy's new book "Nature's Best Hope" I think about how great it would be if this book was in the hands of our local law and policy makers. I want to send a copy to the weed ordinance enforcers, the crew that clears the power lines, my county park superintendent, and my neighbors. I know there are some people who won't bother to read it but most people do care and only need the right information provided to them to become educated citizens that make decisions that protect nature.
Like Tallamy's last book "Bringing Nature Home" this new book also encourages us that our best chance at saving nature as we know it is to start in our own yard. We often are discouraged when we here reports about declining populations of monarchs, bees, and that all insects are vanishing at an alarming rate. A study released a few months ago claims that 25% of north american birds, that is 3 billion, have disappeared in the last 50 years. We need to think global and act local because each of us has influence over a piece of this earth. If all private landowners were to take care of their own property by removing invasives and planting native plants we could make large parcels of ground friendly to biodiversity. Even if we all planted just one native tree in our quarter acre properties it would make a huge difference to habitat availability for migrating birds. In "Nature's Best Hope" Tallamy outlines a ten step process for each of us to do our part in the creation of what he calls Homegrown National Park. This book will give you hope and an action plan as well as several good talking point for the next time you see your neighbor.
So I encourage everyone to buy a copy of this new book, read it yourself and then pass it on to someone who needs to read it, someone outside of your native plant circle. Give it to your preacher, your council member, and the president of your neighborhood association. Now I'm looking at my bookshelf and I have so many books I love. I should loan them all out so they can have as big of an influence on someone else as they have had on me. Let the books be read!
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