AKRON, Ohio — Summit Metro Parks are encouraging northeast Ohio residents to work together to help wildlife and counteract the effects of habitat loss through their Wild Back Yards program.
Wild Back Yards is a rewards program aimed at supporting biodiversity by having people plant native species and remove invasive species.
Christopher Chaney, a park biologist with Summit Metro Parks, explained growing a wild back yard can help replenish local insect and bird populations.
“We have lost significant numbers of insect species, not just in the United States, but across the world,” Chaney said. “In the United States, we have also lost one in four birds over the past couple of decades across the entire continent, and they depend on those insect species for their food and those insects then in turn depend on native species for their survival.”
Wild Bark Yards participant Kim Starr-Rybicki said she has seen the benefits of not using chemicals on her lawn and growing native plants.
“We had a very traditional front yard, where it was all grass and then we had very typical plants that you would find in our front beds, tons of space between all of the plants, lots of mulch, lots of chemicals,” Rybicki explained. “You don’t need the chemicals. All of the plants are growing in their native habitat. So you don’t need the extra water and you don’t need to apply fertilizer. Basically the soil that you have is going to work for the plants that are native to your area.”
Rob Curtis, the supervisor of ecological resources at Summit Metro Parks, said to participate in this program, you do not have to have a back yard and can use a plant pot or adopt a garden instead.
“It’s going to take all of us to sort of change the perspective from sort of a perfectly manicured, plastic looking yard and landscape to a functional ecosystem,” Curtis said. “Whether it is just talking about that with a neighbor or displaying that in our yard, it’s going to take us all to really be involved and push the idea forward that our North American wildlife is worth fighting for and worth gardening for.”
You don’t have to be a Summit County resident to participate in the Wild Back Yards program, and you can sign up online.
