Doug Tallamy addresses the need for all of us to participate in restoring our natural world. Global insect declines and 3,000,000,000 fewer birds in North American are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals that sustain us.
To create landscapes that enhance local ecosystems rather than degrade them, we must 1) remove invasives and 2) add native plant communities that sustain food webs, sequester carbon, maintain diverse native been communities and manage our watersheds.
If we do this in half the area now in lawn, we can create Homegrown National Park, a network of viable habitats throughout the US that will provide vital corridors connecting the natural areas that remain. This approach to conservation empowers everyone to play a significant role in the future of the natural world. It is also enormously satisfying and restorative for those who act.
Doug Tallamy, the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, has authored 111 research publications and taught insect related courses for 41 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His books include Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, Nature’s Best Hope, a New York Time’s bestseller and The Nature of Oaks, a winner of the American Horticultural Society’s 2022 book award. In 2021 he co-founded Homegrown National Park with Michelle Alfandari. His awards include recognition from The Garden Writer’s Association, Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, Allegheny College, Ecoforesters, The Garden Club of America and The American Horticultural association.
Sunday, February 26
3 pm – Author signing & Wine Reception
4 pm – Tallamy’s Chat
Mt Vernon Unitarian Church, Main Building
1909 Windmill Lane
Alexandria, VA 22307
Tickets are $25. Other options include donations to Friends of Hollin Hills.
Buy tickets for the event HERE
https://www.friendsofhollinhills.org/store/p31/Nature%E2%80%99s_Best_Hope%3A_Tallamy_offers_advice_on_how_we_can_restore_biodiversity.html
