Yard Habitat Certification
The SFEMG has added to its list of community gardening projects a Yard Habitat Certification program that has been piloted for about a year and is now ready to be introduced to the public. The new project differs from existing SFEMG projects because “We’re actually going into people’s yards, to guide and educate them,” said former SFEMG President Wendy Wilson, one of the project’s co-leaders along with Janie Farler, Marti Edmondson, Catherine Wygant, and Amy Regalado.
The certification program was inspired by David Tallamy’s book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, and the Xerces Society’s Santa Fe Pollinator Trail pilot program. Participants will rely heavily on the Santa Fe Native Plant Project’s online publication, A Guide to Native Plants for the Santa Fe Landscape, as well as NMSU publications and other relevant resources such as the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder website.
The project’s mission is “to educate the public in providing habitat and resources to support the food web of insects, caterpillars, bees, and birds; restore declining pollinator populations and connect habitat fragments.” As greater swaths of land are developed for housing and commercial ventures, pollinators and other animals must travel farther and farther between the areas where they feed and find shelter and water. The loss of insects and other animals has grave implications for humans over time.
For the first year, master gardeners and interns went in small groups and did preliminary certification assessments of yards belonging to others within the SFEMG community. The groups helped fine-tune the training needed for the educators/assessors, the certification criteria, and the assessment methodology for the yards they visit.
“The focus is not on having a neat and tidy yard but in having habitat,” says Wilson. “This often requires less maintenance, which might be welcome news for some New Mexico gardeners,” she added.
To schedule a visit to your yard, please email yhc.sfemg@gmail.com and include your address and phone number.