Get published! Share your vision of a rewilded community
Why is rewilding landscapes important to you?
People throughout Canada are planting native flora in their neighbourhoods to help nature flourish. It’s time cities did the same and turned manicured parks and public spaces into naturalized landscapes.
Heavily manicured outdoor spaces can be deserts for pollinators and local wildlife. Mowing grass and growing non-native plants can drastically decrease biodiversity and biomass. Cities can lead the movement to rewild landscapes through reasonable and meaningful actions. This can help municipalities save money, energy and other resources by naturalizing their landscaping practices.
Rewilding efforts in your local municipality could help wildlife find the food, shelter and corridors needed to buffer against stresses brought on by climate disruption and biodiversity loss.
A letter to the editor is a simple, effective way to raise this issue publicly and can have a big impact on public opinion. We invite you to write your own letter about increasing biodiversity in your municipality by rewilding with native plants in local parks and green spaces.
Just follow the steps in this tool to submit a letter to the editor to your local news outlet.
Speaking points:
- Introduce yourself (i.e., say you’re a parent, student, Indigenous person, engineer, artist, scientist, new Canadian, etc.).
- Say you expect your municipality to address the biodiversity crisis.
- Explain how you feel about the biodiversity crisis. Complete these sentences, or come up with your own:
- What inspires me to enhance local biodiversity is…
- My fear about biodiversity loss is…
- I’m excited about a transition to native plants and other rewilding efforts because…
- My vision of rewilding my neighbourhood includes…
- Outline the type of support you think is needed to help make your community greener and more resilient.
- Mention the steps that could remedy the decline of irreplaceable pollinators.
- Say you expect local elected officials to prioritize bold action to protect and enhance biodiversity. Courageous leaders with inspiring plans can help restore and reconcile our relationship with the living planet.