Creating wildlife habitats
- Restoring wildlife habitat
Description
Habitat construction should not be considered a replacement for the conservation of naturally existing habitat but can play a key role in helping to conserve biological diversity. Careful plantings can provide expanded habitat for a wide range of species, from soil microlife to insects to mammals. A well-designed landscape area, modeled after healthy, diverse natural forests will spontaneously attract and support biodiversity.
As a general rule, the more forest-like in form and diverse in species a planting is, the more kinds of life it will attract and support.
Implementation
The following guidelines apply when constructing wildlife habitat: 1) Create a variety of habitat niches for wildlife - overstory, understory, and ground layer; 2) Provide shade. Shady conditions are prevalent in natural forests, and shade fosters a wide range of species, from larger animals to soil microlife; 3) Create "wildlife corridors" - areas or zones of the planting that are not often disturbed or entered by people, leaving them to be colonized naturally; 4) Plant many different kinds of species; 5) Conserve and store water on the land; and 6) Encourage or actively cultivate native plant species as they are more likely to support native life, from soil fauna to birds.
Broader
Narrower
Constrains
Facilitates
Facilitated by
Related
Problem
SDG
Metadata
- Amenities » Settlements
- Geography » Wild