Hello,

Welcome to the first newsletter of the Microhabitat Program Incubator. 

Microhabitat programs are emerging across the country as a movement driven, we believe, by individual and community empowerment in the face of vast environmental crises. This movement must expand on several frontiers, one of which is to include ever more—and a greater diversity of—people to truly achieve the scale necessary for ecological and social impact.

In this issue, our Case Study introduces the Backyard Habitat Certification Program of Portland, OR, one well-established program that is moving beyond the traditional demographics of program participation through community partnerships. Our Research Spotlight presents a recent study by Fogel et al., which is to our knowledge the first comprehensive survey and comparison of residential garden habitat programs across the US.

With every newsletter, we will share more examples of how programs are solving challenges on the ground. If you have suggestions on special topics, interesting research or innovative programs we should cover, we’d love to hear from you.

Over the past months we have met microhabitat programs all over the country, learning about their experiences, their expertise and innovations, challenges and needs. We are energized and more inspired than ever to support and connect these programs, and to develop many ways to achieve a shared goal of “More Programs, Better Practices."

Join us.

CASE STUDY:

Lessons from the “Backyard Habitat Certification Program” of Columbia Land Trust and Portland Audubon

The Backyard Habitat Certification Program (BHCP) is a microhabitat program jointly managed by Columbia Land Trust and Portland Audubon. This program, which currently includes over 10,000 backyard habitats, aims to restore ecosystem function via private sites throughout the Portland-Vancouver metro area of Oregon and Washington states.

This case study explores how BHCP is working to create a more inclusive and diverse program, thereby expanding its ecological and social impact and benefits. To increase access for people who do not own their own backyards, for example, BHCP now includes over 400 community sites such as churchyards and apartment-complex gardens. Another strategy has been to partner with mission- and culturally-specific community organizations in the area. BHCP’s experience reveals useful takeaways for forging relationships with community organizations. Briefly:

• Look beyond a one-size-fits-all approach when engaging with partners

• Meet the community where it is with regard to interest in the environment

• Understand community concerns and fears

• Hire and deploy native language speakers

• Build multi-person relationships

• Reinforce the partner organization’s capacity and funding

• Show up in the community to engage and learn

This case study is part of a series of written resource materials that Village and Wilderness is developing to share lessons and best-practices across existing and emerging microhabitat programs.

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: 

A Survey of American residential garden conservation programs 

Authors: Nina S. Fogel, Lara Zwarun, Cody D Schrock, Gerardo R Camilo

Journal of Urban Ecology, Volume 9, Issue 1, 2023, juad017

Published: 09 October 2023

Dr. Nina Fogel and her collaborators identified and reviewed 115 residential garden conservation programs across the US, comparing characteristics such as geographic coverage, organizational affiliations, objectives, program features and level of rigor in participant support and certification. Significant variation between programs made it difficult to assess their collective impact, and the authors recommended a number of improvements and more uniform standards. Examples include simplified yard signage with QR codes, ecoregion-specific resources for homeowners, community inclusion and engagement, and rigor in certification criteria. 

Furthermore, they advocated for more communication among program managers to facilitate learning and comparable standards and results across programs. Their paper also includes a questionnaire that program managers can use to self-assess their program for conservation impact and community reach as they consider launching new programs or enhancing existing ones.

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 in agricultural areas and more.

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Have thoughts, ideas or feedback for us? Get in touch at info@villageandwilderness.org

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