No matter where you live you can help out animals by building them a backyard habitat. There are people all over the world, each having some sort of green/wild area around them. If we each focus on helping our local ecosystem, the global ecosystem benefits as a whole! Here are a few ideas on how you can help build a healthy and thriving ecosystem around you.
Reduce Artificial Chemicals
You can help native wildlife around you by reducing (or completely cutting out) artificial pesticides and fertilizer. With fewer chemicals in your backyard, more native plants will eventually come in and thrive. This may sound scary and a gardening nightmare, but it is quite beneficial in the long run! Because with that increase in native plants, native animals will slowly appear too. Before you know it you will have all sorts of critters running around, building a healthy and thriving ecosystem.
Remove sitting water
This one is quite simple and straight forward, the more sitting water there is in your yard, the more likely harmful pests and bacteria will colonize and reproduce there. Mosquitos that carry diseases like Zika, Malaria, West Nile all lay their eggs in stagnant water. Harmful species of bacteria thrive in moist environments releasing harmful chemicals that make the water very concentrated.
These breeding grounds of diseases are harmful not only to us but to native wildlife as well. Animals know when water is safe to be around and drink from and when not to. By removing any unwanted, stagnant water in your yard, you are allowing native wildlife to thrive!
Clean birdbaths/feeders
Similar to the previous section about removing sitting water, not cleaning your birdbath or birdfeeders can cause harmful diseases too! It’s not enough to just top off the water or feed on the structures because the old spoiled food and water is still there, and infects the new supply just put on them.
It is also important to spread out baths and feeders throughout your yard in case one is dirty, the rest don’t become dirty either. Here is a great resource to help you know what to look for in case you suspect sick birds in your area. Also, it is important to protect your native birds. Here are some ways you can help conserve birds in your own backyard!
Plant native plants
When you put plants that are native to your area in your yard, you are helping natural biodiversity. One huge benefit to planting native plants is that they are relatively low maintenance! These plants are already accustomed to living in the environment that you live in so they don’t need constant watering, close monitoring, or unnatural fertilizers (as mentioned above)! When native plants are in your yard, that brings in native wildlife too and makes your green area a natural oasis for everything around it.
Build insect “hotels”
Create a hideaway for smaller animals in your yard to make a home in! You can target certain species of insects (or other small animals: frogs, newts, lizards, etc.) that you want in your garden and make a small home for them. Many pollinators don’t live in colonies and need to find homes of their own. These pollinators will bring beauty to your yard while also making plants happy and thrive.
All around the world if we take care of our native wildlife, biodiversity will thrive. By implementing these things into our own personal little green space we are helping out ecology worldwide by doing what we can with what we have.
