Homegrown National Park: residents restore habitat across US
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Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware, encourages people to create native plant habitats on their properties to support biodiversity.
He noticed that his own 10-acre farm in Pennsylvania, while appearing green, lacked the caterpillars necessary to sustain local wildlife. Tallamy began removing invasive plants and replanting native species, documenting over 1,380 moth species and 62 breeding bird species as a result.
He argues that conservation isn’t limited to protected lands like national parks, as many species need connected habitats to survive migration. Recognizing that 80 percent of land east of the Mississippi River is privately owned, Tallamy founded Homegrown National Park. This nonprofit asks people to convert lawns into native habitats and register their efforts on a biodiversity map. Currently, over 52,000 participants are tending more than 187,000 acres through the initiative, with numbers increasing rapidly.
Tallamy believes that restoring these ecosystems is essential for human survival, providing oxygen, managing watersheds, and mitigating climate change. He also urges people to make small changes, like switching to amber light bulbs, to reduce harm to insects. While acknowledging that this movement is small compared to the scale of the problem, Tallamy sees growing demand for native plants and increasing property values as signs of a cultural shift toward ecological thinking.
