(Radio Iowa) – A habitat restoration program helps people turn their outdoor spaces into landscapes that support local wildlife. Certified Wildlife Habitat is a national program promoted by the Iowa Wildlife Federation. It guides people on how to provide essential resources like food, water and shelter for wildlife. There are already more than two-thousand certified habitats statewide. The federation’s Ryan Smith says native plants are crucial in these areas, especially for pollinators.
“That would be butterflies, bees, wasps any number of insects,” Smith says, “which of course helps the entire food web.” Smith says providing more of these resources supports a variety of wildlife across the state, from pollinators to frogs and chipmunks. He says wildlife struggle to find local habitats due to urban and agricultural development.
He says, “We’re also losing some of those other corridors that might be along creeks, or ditches or those kinds of things.” Smith says wildlife use corridors to migrate across habitats and find the right sources of food. He says the program helps because it can restore habitats locally and along those corridors. Many of the certified habitats are in Des Moines, and Smith says more are popping up in rural areas.
