How to Care for Local Nature
Research local groups., Meet with local organizations., Get your feet wet., If no organizations in your area exist, build one., Pick up litter., Help identify invasive species., Encourage others to think about nature., Do not under value the hand...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Research local groups.
There may be something already in progress you can lend a hand to often local forest preserves and community parks will have activities to help preserve your local nature.
If you want an idea of how healthy your local area is, try joining or starting a local wild life monitoring group.
The lack of presence of various animals tell you a lot about the habitat.
Joining a monitoring group gives you a lot of flexibility, you usually get assigned a location to monitor, and get to visit any time with in the various seasons.
Frog monitoring:
Frogs have very porous skin and chemical levels in run off and rainwater can affect them easily.
If you have good levels of certain frogs it means you have a good environment.
Butterfly monitoring:
Butterflies are a great indicator of the over all health of the environment.
They are much easier to spot than other invertebrates, but are effected by pollutants in similar ways.
So a low population of butterflies means a low population of invertebrates, which can throw off the eco-system, inviting scavengers like rats, and indicate harmful air or soil toxins.Earthworm monitoring:
Another fun monitoring group, this one focuses on the health of soil in the area and is recommended for all ages.
Again these critters are easily effected by man made chemicals, and locating good populations is a good indicator of bio diversity.
There are hundreds of options when trying to join a group involved with help out your local nature, the best thing to keep in mind is what you enjoy, and what works with your scheduled. -
Step 2: Meet with local organizations.
Even if what you had in mind isn't currently been working on, you can meet like minded people who may know a group of individuals that have more knowledge or would be able to help in your cause.
If you are interested in the current projects, an info session or a training session is the best place to meet others, to ask questions and further your knowledge. , The best way to care for local nature is to get your hands dirty.
From volunteering at local wild life sanctuaries to harvesting seeds at conservation centers, there are a lot of hands needed and you don't need to be an expert to join in. , Talk to the municipality(city council).
Get local school involvement, volunteer hours look great on college applications and job applications for that matter.
Get a network built, if your friends know someone who can really get the ball rolling, heck if the guy at the coffee shop does, you can get a lot of support behind your movement. Your organization doesn't have to be huge however, a simple group writing letters to local government can make a big impact. , If each person walking down a path picked up just one piece of litter to dispose of properly, there would be no litter.
Make a little goal to go for a walk once a day and keep nature in your mind.
Pick up a wrapper here, pull an invasive plant species, and try to repair damages that you may find. , For things like invasive species, the local organizations may not know about it or how severe it is.
Jotting down a note or taking a picture to try to identify an invasive species can help motivate individuals to address this issue. , Something as small as mentioning a local flower that a neighbor should keep an eye out for can get some attention. , A lot of nature lovers would rather stay out of politics, but it's important your local government knows this is something that is important to you.
If your local representative knows this is something the citizens want they may be able to aid in starting committees, providing funds for local groups and more. , Organize a local fundraiser, and send the governor an invite.
Who can resist a bake sale, or a local festival.
Creating social media pages is also a great way to get local knowledge out and some wide scale recognition. -
Step 3: Get your feet wet.
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Step 4: If no organizations in your area exist
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Step 5: build one.
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Step 6: Pick up litter.
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Step 7: Help identify invasive species.
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Step 8: Encourage others to think about nature.
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Step 9: Do not under value the hand written letter.
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Step 10: If the local government is not addressing issues
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Step 11: try to spotlight them.
Detailed Guide
There may be something already in progress you can lend a hand to often local forest preserves and community parks will have activities to help preserve your local nature.
If you want an idea of how healthy your local area is, try joining or starting a local wild life monitoring group.
The lack of presence of various animals tell you a lot about the habitat.
Joining a monitoring group gives you a lot of flexibility, you usually get assigned a location to monitor, and get to visit any time with in the various seasons.
Frog monitoring:
Frogs have very porous skin and chemical levels in run off and rainwater can affect them easily.
If you have good levels of certain frogs it means you have a good environment.
Butterfly monitoring:
Butterflies are a great indicator of the over all health of the environment.
They are much easier to spot than other invertebrates, but are effected by pollutants in similar ways.
So a low population of butterflies means a low population of invertebrates, which can throw off the eco-system, inviting scavengers like rats, and indicate harmful air or soil toxins.Earthworm monitoring:
Another fun monitoring group, this one focuses on the health of soil in the area and is recommended for all ages.
Again these critters are easily effected by man made chemicals, and locating good populations is a good indicator of bio diversity.
There are hundreds of options when trying to join a group involved with help out your local nature, the best thing to keep in mind is what you enjoy, and what works with your scheduled.
Even if what you had in mind isn't currently been working on, you can meet like minded people who may know a group of individuals that have more knowledge or would be able to help in your cause.
If you are interested in the current projects, an info session or a training session is the best place to meet others, to ask questions and further your knowledge. , The best way to care for local nature is to get your hands dirty.
From volunteering at local wild life sanctuaries to harvesting seeds at conservation centers, there are a lot of hands needed and you don't need to be an expert to join in. , Talk to the municipality(city council).
Get local school involvement, volunteer hours look great on college applications and job applications for that matter.
Get a network built, if your friends know someone who can really get the ball rolling, heck if the guy at the coffee shop does, you can get a lot of support behind your movement. Your organization doesn't have to be huge however, a simple group writing letters to local government can make a big impact. , If each person walking down a path picked up just one piece of litter to dispose of properly, there would be no litter.
Make a little goal to go for a walk once a day and keep nature in your mind.
Pick up a wrapper here, pull an invasive plant species, and try to repair damages that you may find. , For things like invasive species, the local organizations may not know about it or how severe it is.
Jotting down a note or taking a picture to try to identify an invasive species can help motivate individuals to address this issue. , Something as small as mentioning a local flower that a neighbor should keep an eye out for can get some attention. , A lot of nature lovers would rather stay out of politics, but it's important your local government knows this is something that is important to you.
If your local representative knows this is something the citizens want they may be able to aid in starting committees, providing funds for local groups and more. , Organize a local fundraiser, and send the governor an invite.
Who can resist a bake sale, or a local festival.
Creating social media pages is also a great way to get local knowledge out and some wide scale recognition.
About the Author
Brandon Gordon
Specializes in breaking down complex practical skills topics into simple steps.
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