Hello ,

If the tumult of the past month has reinforced anything, it’s the power of local initiative and ingenuity in the face of uncertainty. Within that context it feels particularly rewarding to announce our Incubator Grant pilot, designed to help community-based organizations and local public entities launch new microhabitat programs. 

Members of our Practitioners Circle continue to be sources of innovation, and we are proud to highlight their work here, including the outcome of one of our 2024 Catalyst Grants.

The other reads we’ve selected below also coalesce around personal agency given larger, seemingly uncontrollable forces. It appears themes of a feather have a way of flocking together: 

• Your yard matters. New research affirms that what you plant in your garden makes a difference, even if your neighbors take a different approach.

• Tracking bird collisions. A simple tool for reporting casualties can contribute vital data to help reverse biodiversity loss.

Mental wellness advice of late emphasizes a focus on what one can actually control. We hope this grant opportunity and the resources shared here offer actionable ways to do just that in the microhabitat space.

Please help us spread the word! Share this newsletter and the Incubator Grant opportunity with any community, organization, or agency interested in launching a microhabitat program. We also welcome your ideas and connections to help publicize these resources nationally.

Kind regards,

Tom & Tripti

GRANT OPPORTUNITY

Introducing the Incubator Grant to launch more microhabitat programs

This year, we are delighted to announce the Incubator Grant pilot, designed to kickstart rigorous microhabitat programs with critical seed funding and a pathway into the nationwide Practitioners Circle—an active network of experienced microhabitat leaders.

At the heart of this initiative is our Microhabitat Program Manual, launched last month, a go-to resource for emerging program leaders, equipping them to build rigorous, high-impact projects that support the communities, species, and climate-vulnerable landscapes that need them most.

Interested in applying for an Incubator Grant? Click on the button below for details on eligibility, process, and success criteria. 

Note that applications for the “Strategic Plan Award” are open on a rolling basis until we select 8 recipients or until March 21, 2025, at 11:59 PM EST—whichever comes first.

2024 CATALYST GRANT SPOTLIGHT

Announcing the Bird Friendly Habitat Certification Program Toolkit

The results of our 2024 Catalyst Grant round continue to roll in. Here we highlight results from the Bird Friendly Habitat Program (BFHP),  of New Hope Bird Alliance, a Catalyst Grant recipient. Initiated in 2015, this all-volunteer-run microhabitat program has long mentored and incubated others. With support from the Catalyst Grant, the New Hope team has synthesized its expertise into a comprehensive Bird Friendly Habitat Certification Toolkit. This resource includes templates, sample reports, job descriptions, partnership strategies, and more—making it easier than ever for organizations, especially volunteer-led ones, to launch and sustain microhabitat programs. By sharing this knowledge, BFHP is empowering more communities to create vital bird-friendly spaces.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING

2025 Monarch Conservation Webinar Series

Don't miss this free webinar series from Monarch Joint Venture, the host organization of Monarchs and More Western Habitat Program, a valued member of our Practitioners Circle. Each month, experts from diverse fields share their knowledge on monarch conservation, pollinator habitats, and the urgent challenges facing these species.

Deepen your understanding, and explore ways to take action. Plus, catch up anytime with the webinar archive featuring past sessions.

RESEARCH

“Planning for spring’s garden? Bees like variety and don’t care about your neighbors’ yards”

In an interesting finding for microhabitats, new research on bees and pollinators shows that the surrounding landscape has little effect on the number and diversity of pollinators visiting  a garden. Instead, the key factor is the number and variety of flowers planted, with native perennials from the mint, sunflower, and pea families providing essential nutrition. Gardeners can support pollinators by planting diverse flowers, demonstrating that even small gardens can significantly benefit insect populations, regardless of the surrounding environment.

TOOLS

Help Birds This Migration Season: Track & Prevent Collisions

Each year in the U.S., more than a billion birds perish in collisions with buildings. As spring migration begins, we can play a crucial role in addressing this crisis. The Global Bird Collision Mapper is an app and online tool that enables individuals and organizations to document bird strikes, gathering vital data on when and where collisions occur, and which species are affected. This crowdsourced information helps researchers, conservationists, and urban planners identify high-risk areas and implement solutions to reduce bird collisions. Together, we can make a difference—one data point at a time.

What is a “Microhabitat Program”?

Microhabitat programs restore ecosystem function in the fragmented landscape be it for people or biodiversity or both. Examples include community-scale efforts to create backyard habitats, bioswales in urban areas, pollinator patches along agricultural margins and more.

Looking for previous issues of our newsletter?

Whether you are new to our newsletter, or just missed our last update in your inbox, you can now catch up on all the back issues.

Interested in supporting our work?

Donate today. Your support allows us to provide pro bono services to community-based nonprofits to help them create and share community-scale climate adaptation strategies—such as microhabitat programs. 

Please share this newsletter with anyone who might be interested.
Have thoughts, ideas or feedback for us? Get in touch at info@villageandwilderness.org

Did someone forward this to you? Sign up for future newsletters here.

See web version here.

We help community-based organizations invent, share and grow replicable, climate adaptation solutions. Our flagship project is the Microhabitat Program Incubator.