Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive
and even spiritual satisfaction.
- Edward O. Wilson

Habitat - the environment where a plant or animal naturally lives - is all around us. The problem is, as we go about our business, we destroy natural habitat. If your subdivision has all the streets named things like Deer Run Way or Great Heron Crescent, there almost certainly are no deer or herons there… any more. What’s left are raccoons and mice and nobody wants to live on Rodent Blvd or That ^*%$^ Thing Got Into The Garbage Again Road.

Unless your house backs onto a huge green space or there are large quiet ponds in your neighbourhood, you won’t bring back the deer or the herons. But there are many other plants and animals that will make a comeback if you make it possible.

But why? Well, for one, biological diversity is a sign of health in any ecosystem. The more diverse, the better. By creating space that is more naturalised, we increase our proximity to nature and reap the benefits (see the post on Nature Deficit Disorder). It’s beautiful to look at. Trees help clean the air and the water and reduce background noise. Birds mask background noise and add colour and motion to your yard. Avoiding the use of lawn and garden chemicals to make your yard wildlife-friendly reduces pollutants in the greater environment and reduces health risks for us all.

The Canadian Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation have programmes to certify backyards as “Wildlife Habitat”. The key areas are:

• Food
• Water
• Shelter from predators and to raise young
• Earth-friendly gardening
• Naturalised habitat (native plants)

Once your backyard meets these targets, you can submit for Certification, and then you and your yard are official and certified and you can buy a sign to put in your yard proclaiming to one and all that YOU have a Certified Backyard Habitat. And when the less enlightened ask you when you are going to ‘fix up’ your yard (i.e. plant more grass), you can point to your certification (which is framed and hanging on the wall of course) and nonchalantly reply, “We’re part of a North American network certified by the CWF/NWF in the creation of suburban habitats suitable for, and encouraging the recreation of, indigenous biodiversity in our specific ecosystem. “. And anyone who hears that must be impressed. You’ll be invited to all the best dinner parties. Maybe. But even better, you’ll have a colourful and vibrant little naturalised space all your own.
We’ve been keeping these goals in mind as we slowly landscape our yard. When we moved in, we had only grass in the backyard (oh, and a small mud pit) and the front yard had a row of shrubs and more grass. Progress is coming and we hope to get our certification this year or next.

And I am so getting one of those signs to put in my front yard :D

Canadian Wildlife Federation’s Certified Backyard Habitat Programme
National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat Programme
Evergreen.ca’s Searchable Native Plant Database (Canada)
USDA Plants Database
Plants For A Future - Database Search - At this site you can search for (among many other options) plants native to specific geographical areas anywhere in the world.
Native Plant Suppliers (Canada)
Native Plant Societies of The United States and Canada