 Would you
like a ? Certify it as
a wildlife habitat with The Canadian Wildlife
Federation Backyard Certification.
Project for Wildlife Habitat http://www.wildaboutgardening.org/en/whats_new/backyardhab/backyardhab.htm
 From
Backyard to Habitat
Green plants need carbon dioxide (CO2) to make their food
through photosynthesis. The more plants you have in your backyard,
and the larger they are, the more carbon dioxide they absorb from
the air around them. And the happier your local wildlife will be!
Turning a back yard into a space filled with many kinds of plants
does three wonderfully beneficial things it makes an attractive
and interesting space for people, it provides habitat for birds,
butterflies and small animals, and it absorbs carbon dioxide the
main climate change gas from the atmosphere.
Green plants also improve air quality in cities the make the
air cooler, provide shade (which reduces the need for air conditioning),
absorb dust and pollutants, and add moisture which makes the air
easier to breathe.
 Offer
Nature Hospitality in Your Yard
The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) has designed a program
to help people welcome wildlife to their backyards by increasing
the amount of plant life there. Whether they have a small patio
garden or hectares of space, people can provide for the needs and
comfort of local birds and animals. And if the backyard habitat
you create meet the standards of the Canadian Wildlife Federation,
they will award it Backyard Habitat Certification.
 What
does it take to have your back yard certified?
The key word, perhaps, is to make it more natural. Backyard
habitat provides what birds need and like best sheltering trees
and shrubs where they feel safe, a diversity of plant life for
them to move through ("space"), nuts, berries and seeds
to eat, and water to drink. As the CWF sums up the four basic requirements
to create habitat:
 Planting
native species plants that grow naturally in your local area
and provide for the needs of local birds is best. Today native
plants are becoming easier to find in nurseries and gardening centres
in Ontario. They are responding to more demand as people come to
appreciate the value of planting native species in their gardens.
(Please don't dig up native plants from protected wild places buy
them, find friends or community gardeners who will share some,
or grow them from seed.)
 The
other important feature of natural backyard space for habitat is
what CFW calls "earth-friendly" gardening." That
means making that it be healthy to animals (and people too!) free
of chemical pesticides, both insecticides (insect-killing chemicals)
and herbicides (weed-killers). Poisonous chemicals can harm things
other than their targets, as well as affect the quality of our
water. Earth-friendly gardens use natural fertilizers such as compost,
which returns household food-scrap nutrients directly to the soil
-- and saves a trip to the landfill in a carbon-dioxide
emitting waste-disposal trucks!
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The Canadian Wildlife Fund (CFW) website has advice on how
to plant habitats for a range of ative wildlife -- from
birds, to bats (yes bats - they're great mosquito-catchers!)
to butterflies and frogs.
Check out their website at:
www.cwf-fcf.org/pages/wildprograms/wildprogramsbackyard_e.asp?
section=6&page=122&language=e
Backyard Projects!
The CFW is publishing a new edition of their guide book, Backyard
Habitat for Canada's Wildlife. This publication
is part of their vision for welcoming wildlife to backyards
and communities across the land. It's filled
with more than 100 exciting projects, and has something
for everyone. Look for the new, revised 2004 edition.
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 Backyard
Habitat Certification by the CWF is free!
… and it can make you a supporter of both healthy wildlife and
important climate change action.
To apply for your habitat certification, click on the CWF application
form http://www.wildaboutgardening.org/en/whats_new/backyardhab/application_form.htm
 …. then fill
it out and mail it (by snail-mail only) to
Canadian Wildlife Federation
350 Michael Cowpland Drive
Kanata, Ottawa
K2M 2W1
ACTIVITY 1
- What are the benefits of having a backyard space with many
kinds of plants?
- What is 'earth-friendly' gardening
and why is this important in backyard habitats?
- a) What are the 4 basic requirements when creating a habitat?
b) List ways in which you could create these elements in your backyard
Hint check out the application for Backyard Habitat Certification.
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