Certified Backyard Habitat
Learn how to make your space a welcoming environment for local wildlife! In this series, we will guide you to qualify your backyard as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
A certified backyard habitat contains the essential needs that wildlife need to thrive, including food, water, shelter, and places to raise their young. Find out the upcoming schedule of Backyard Habitat programs and workshops using the resources below. After you've joined a Backyard Habitat Series program (or a few!), you should have the information you need to certify your own space.
Upcoming Programs
Backyard Habitat: Food Workshop – March 6, 2024, 6 p.m.
Sippo Lake Park-Exploration Gateway (Room C)
Over the past decade, urban sprawl has increased at an alarming rate. Due to this trend, our native wildlife has been forced to relocate as their habitats disappear. As individuals, we may not be able to stop this devastating trend, but we can help reintroduce wildlife into our backyard. This program is just one in a series of programs to help certify your backyard as a valuable and sustainable ecosystem for wildlife. Participants will receive instructions about getting their yard the "Certified Backyard Habitat" designation by Stark Parks naturalists.
Backyard Habitat: Restoring Ecological Services with Native Plant Gardening – April 11, 2024, 6 p.m.
Sippo Lake Park-Exploration Gateway (Room C)
Native Roots Nursery of Richfield, Ohio, will be speaking on your garden’s potential, how to select native plants that will benefit wildlife, and how to achieve the look you want.
Sippo Lake Park-Exploration Gateway (Room C)
Backyard Habitat: Throw and Grow Your Backyard – June 6, 2024, 6 p.m.
Sippo Lake Park-Exploration Gateway (Room C)
Throw and grow a beautiful pollinator garden by making seed balls to help support and attract pollinators to your backyard. Native seeds used in this program were collected at Stark Parks and have been hand-selected and cleaned by Naturalists and volunteers. This seed ball mix could include any combination of the following seeds: Wild Bergamot, Purple Coneflower, Milkweed, Mountain Mint, Maximillian Sunflower, Black-eyed Susan, and Rattlesnake Master. Each participant will make and take their seed balls home supplied with ‘how-to’ directions.
Backyard Habitat: Pollinators for All of Our Food – July 25, 2024, 6 p.m.
Sippo Lake Park-Exploration Gateway (Room C)
Join the Stark Soil & Water Conservation District to learn about the threats to our streams and how to properly manage them. This presentation will introduce you to important concepts of water rights and stewardship. Stream conservation benefits our homes, communities, and wildlife! This class is a part of the Stark Parks backyard habitat certification program.
Backyard Habitat: Saving Our Streams – Aug. 14, 2024, 6 p.m.
Sippo Lake Park-Exploration Gateway (Room C)
Join the Stark Soil & Water Conservation District to learn about the threats to our streams and how to properly manage them. This presentation will introduce you to important concepts of water rights and stewardship. Stream conservation benefits our homes, communities, and wildlife! This class is a part of the Stark Parks backyard habitat certification program.
