In a few easy steps, you can make a big difference for local wildlife!  Entice pollinators, like hummingbirds and butterflies, by transforming your outdoor space into a sanctuary enjoyed by humans and animals alike.  It all starts with the end in mind by creating a plan for the space that you will transform.  Not just for backyards, Gardening For Wildlife is possible anywhere that you live, learn, play, work, and worship.

* Plant a simple garden with native flowers that provide nectar for pollinators.

* Create a balcony garden with a variety of flowerpots to hold flowers and herbs.

* Transform a mowed grassy area into a milkweed patch with native grasses.

* Plant native trees and shrubs that produce berries and seeds to attract a variety of birds and wildlife.

With less than twenty percent of unclaimed space available, New Jersey is running out of land and is projected to be the first state in our nation to reach build out.  This means that all land has been accounted for as protected or already developed.  Human centered land use, such as shopping malls and housing developments, greatly reduce habitat for native wildlife.  This is where you come in – by becoming a steward of your property and joining a nationwide movement of over 217,000 gardens!

Gardening for Wildlife is conducted through a partnership between New Jersey Audubon and the National Wildlife Federation.  The program provides official recognition for properties that meet five key elements necessary for wildlife: food, water, cover, places for wildlife to raise young, and using wildlife-friendly landscaping practices. These properties are then recognized as Certified Wildlife Habitats™. 

Five Key Elements: Food, Water, Cover, Places to Raise Young, & Using Sustainable (Wildlife-friendly) Practices.

Food: Plant native trees, shrubs and other vegetation that produce flowers, seeds, berries, cones and nuts. Keep in mind that throughout their lives, some wildlife will change their diet depending on their life stage so plant accordingly. For example, many caterpillars eat only leaves while their adult form, the butterfly or moth, sip on nectar. Planting natives for all life stages is crucial to survival.

Water: Splish, splash, birds enjoy taking a bath! But water is needed for more than just cleanliness. Butterflies will drink from puddles so if you only have a small balcony, put out a shallow lid and fill daily with water. Frogs and toads lay eggs in water as do dragonflies and damselflies. Consider putting in a small pond for these animals.

Cover: Although wildlife live outside, they too need “inside” spaces for survival. A shelter from the rain or a tree hole to keep warm. A space to hide from predators or a blind used while hunting. Creating cover for animals can be as simple as leaving a dead tree on the ground for salamanders to live underneath, creating a rockpile for animals to hide or building a bat box to house resident mosquito eaters.

Places to Raise Young: Maintaining or creating safe spaces for young animals is essential for survival of a species. Create shrub thickets to protect fledgling birds from cats (oh and keep cats indoors please!) and other predators. Put up bird boxes for those cavity nesters that visit your yard. Have a small space? Plant parsley in a pot so that Black Swallowtail caterpillars have something to eat once their eggs hatch.

Sustainable Wildlife-friendly Practices: Garden sustainably for everyone and everything involved. Keep cats indoors, compost leftover vegetable and fruit matter, and reduce or eliminate the use of chemicals on your lawn.  Don’t just keep all the fun to yourself!  Encourage friends, family members, and neighbors to get gardening for wildlife and ask them to get their properties to be Certified Wildlife Habitats as well!

Wildlife Habitat Beyond the Yard:

Are you interested in expanding your wildlife habitat to your community, school, or place of worship?  Choose from the links below to find out more about participating in these programs.  NJ Audubon will offer assistance and guidance as requested. 

Community Wildlife Habitat: Certification for cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, and communities of all kinds.  By certifying individual properties (backyards, parks, businesses, schools, etc) and offering education and outreach to community members, an entire community can gain certification. 

Schoolyard Habitat: What better way to encourage children to explore nature than through a wildlife habitat right outside their classroom? Parents, teachers, students, and community members can come together to help develop and maintain a pollinator garden that benefits children and wildlife. Gaining Schoolyard Habitat certification is one step toward becoming an Eco-School.

Sacred Grounds: This program recognizes congregations, houses of worships, and faith communities who both create wildlife habitat and actively link faith practices and caring for the environment.   

Community Wildlife Habitats in New Jersey

The Community Wildlife Habitat partners with communities of all sizes and kinds to provide habitat for wildlife where people live, learn, play, work, and worship.  The program provides community leaders with a focused framework for restoring wildlife habitat and engaging community members to work together and become certified as a wildlife-friendly community.  With more than 200 certified Community Wildlife Habitats nationwide, New Jersey Audubon congratulates the following communities here in the Garden State who have reached this esteemed goal:

Registered to become Certified Community Wildlife Habitats

Registered communities are working toward certification and with community engagement, will eventually join the over 200 certified Community Wildlife Habitats across the United States of America.  If you live in the following communities, please reach out and join the movement to obtain this exciting certification!