Moving Hearts and Minds
North America has lost 3 billion birds since the 1970’s, and many of these are backyard birds. What is the main reason? Habitat loss! Large mature trees and the accompanying biodiversity are being lost to development in communities everywhere, including Richmond, a city situated on the Fraser Estuary and a Key Biodiversity Area. The development process currently doesn’t do enough to address the problem of biodiversity loss. Furthermore, residents are not typically recreating biodiversity in their backyards. Why? Possibly because they lack connectedness to our natural world (the Heart) and lack understanding of what biodiversity is (the Mind).
The Garden City Conservation Society works to protect and restore urban habitat throughout Richmond. We have had some recent successes (for example, Talisman Park ; Park in Capstan) but no real change will take place until enough hearts and minds are moved through a reconnection with our natural world.
We’ve started this work but want to take it further. Our society, in collaboration with various partners, planted the first Miyawaki Mini Forest in Western Canada on November 19, 2022. We chose this biodiverse method of planting as an example of how urban cityscapes can restore biodiversity in our communities to benefit birds and other wildlife – and, ultimately, us.
Change is needed but it must begin with a shift in thinking about the world we live in.
