“HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK™ IS A GRASSROOTS CALL-TO-ACTION TO REGENERATE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION by PLANTING NATIVE PLANTS AND CREATING NEW ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS.”
National parks are places where space is set aside for nature. Since we have run out of extra space on earth, we need to find new ways of making space for nature. There are about 40 million acers of lawn that are privately owned. These vast expanses of monoculture do not support wildlife or human health. Lawn is prime target for converting into space for nature. The goal of Homegrown National Park is to convert 20 million acres of lawn to native plantings in the U.S. This represents approximately half of the green lawns of privately-owned properties. Large amounts of land can be transformed into productive ecosystems if each landowner does their small part.
If each homeowner would convert half or more of their yard to native plants, this goal could be met. Small pockets of native gardens scattered across a neighborhood would collectively create enough habitat to support species that need lots of space. Chains of neighborhood gardens would create corridors that allow wildlife to migrate to disperse to new habitat or find mates. A diverse selection of habitat gardens will provide all the pieces of required habitat for a species.
An owl, for example, would benefit from homegrown national park. Owls need very large hunting grounds. The habitats owls hunt in need to support a heathy population of small rodents. Rodents need protective shrubs, seedy plants, water, and a space where they feel safe. The owls also need nearby habitats where other owls live so that they can find mates. Owls need habitat with several dead trees where they can rest, store food, and raise young. All this diversity of habitat and space to roam can be provided by a collection of personal native plant gardens spread throughout a neighborhood.
Most of us do not have enough land to support even a single butterfly throughout its entire life cycle. However, we desperately want these creatures in our gardens. We want to protect diversity and we also want to enjoy it. Our gardens can do more than act as an island of beauty when we kill the lawn and connect our gardens with our neighbors to form a homegrown national park.
Join the movement at https://homegrownnationalpark.org/
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