Discover the benefits of a Wild Back Yard
Lindsay Smith, Brand Manager
For more than 100 years, park district staff have cared for the greenspace that makes up Summit Metro Parks, which today totals more than 15,000 acres in Summit County.
While our work to conserve and sustainably manage land is in fact limited to the properties within our district, nature of course knows no bounds. The reality is that what happens outside of our parks also affects plants and animals within them, since we are all part of the same ecosystem here in Northeast Ohio. Why should we care what happens inside or outside park boundaries, for that matter? Humans are a part of nature, too. When the plant and animal communities around us are healthy, it helps us thrive as well.
For that reason, last year Summit Metro Parks launched a new initiative called Wild Back Yards. Some may already be familiar with the effort, which is an educational campaign to encourage our community to work together in providing habitat for our wildlife by using native plants to counteract the effects of habitat loss and habitat fragmentation.
What is Wild Back Yards?
Wild Back Yards is the overarching theme for a collection of activities and materials we’ve developed for you to discover. Experts from the park district’s conservation department — a team of local biologists and ecologists — have thoughtfully curated the top ways you can make a difference for wildlife at home, while naturalists will offer educational programs throughout 2023 to help visitors get started.
What we hope to achieve
Plant and animal communities are in big trouble in our country. The introduction of exotic plants from other continents has begun to crowd out the native plants that our local bugs, birds and other wildlife need in order to survive. Human development and impacts have also harmed natural habitats in a way that has measurably reduced living species populations. Together, Summit Metro Parks and Wild Back Yards participants can:
- Reduce non-native species coverage and invasive seed pressure
- Increase presence and diversity of native plants and habitat
- Reduce ecological footprint of residential landscaping
- Improve understanding of sustainable landscaping practices.
How to get involved
While habitat and species loss are discouraging to think about, it’s not all bad news, because there are steps we can take to help! Each of us can make a difference by making small changes at home. Whether your outdoor space is a sprawling yard, a concrete front porch or something in between, we will share ways to help the environment around you thrive.
Start your journey here. On this webpage, you’ll find many resources, including ways to check if your plants are native or invasive, places where you can purchase native plants, a listing of relevant naturalist-led programs and more! You can also choose to sign up for Wild Back Yards information and tips to be sent straight to your inbox.
Coming soon, residents will have the chance to participate in a recognition program through Wild Back Yards. The recognition program will outline a checklist of actions to take at home — for people of all levels and on different types of properties — with special rewards as an incentive!
With informational plant guides that you can keep at home, our second Native Plant Festival in May 2023, special tips online and in our publications, educational programs and even some cool new merchandise at Maple Leaf Gifts, Summit Metro Parks is wild about Wild Back Yards in 2023 — and we hope you’ll join us!
For more stories like this, check out Green Islands Magazine, a bi-monthly publication from Summit Metro Parks. Summit County residents can sign up to receive the publication at home free of charge.
