Planting native is a great New Year’s resolution to give to the planet and yourself. Homegrown National Park® is a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate the biodiversity that creates our life support systems.
Nationally, the Homegrown National Park movement takes the idea of locally-led conservation one step further. Inspired by Doug Tallamy, a writer, conservationist and professor of entomology at University of Delaware, the initiative recognizes the power of small, individual actions to produce large-scale, measurable change. He is joined in this endeavor by Michelle Alfandari. Since its inception, Americans added 23,600 native plantings, totaling 58,600 acres, to the Homegrown National Park map.
Homegrown National Park addresses an urgent global crisis with a simple, science-based solution: individuals across the country adding the native plants that support the life around us and removing the invasive plants that do not. They are catalyzing actions that will have meaningful, tangible, measurable, and immediate results. We can do this now without waiting for legislation.
In the long-term, Homegrown National Park has set a goal to create 20 million acres of native habitat on private lands in order to regenerate biodiversity and protect critical ecosystem services such as oxygen production, flood control, pollination and carbon storage.
Find information about native plants and resources on the HNP website. Our VFAS Backyards for Nature webpages also have a wealth of information to help you get started. You can even request a yard visit to have your property assessed for plant recommendations.