Photo: Virginia Bluebells, Cbaile19, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hanna Tudor
What are you thinking when you walk through your local park? Are you listening to the birds and wondering what they are? Are you observing how the local plants and wildlife change through the seasons? Are you wondering what the trees around you are and if they are native to the area? Do you feel connected to the nature around you? If you haven’t yet taken the time to study the variety of nature in your local park, but you still appreciate it, you may also ask yourself how you, as a park user and community member can help protect the park’s resources.
While park advocates, naturalists, and conservationists play important roles in preserving our parks’ beauty for the community, there are very important ways that we, as community members and park visitors, can contribute to the parks’ well-being. The reality is that parks in northern Virginia are high-use areas, and preserving their natural spaces takes care and effort. By adopting park-friendly habits you can help make our local parks more friendly to wildlife and a sustainable resource for all to enjoy. Rita Peralta, a naturalist, member of the ASNV board, and local park advocate, helped me outline a few best practices for park visitors, helping them become a part of the natural system instead of just tourists.
First, Do No Harm
Our local parks have signs that point out interesting features, including plant names and information about local wildlife. They can help you learn about the park’s resources but also are a reminder that you are sharing the park space with resident plants and animals. Parks are places where people love to feel free and connected to nature, but different people have different ideas about what that connection means. For that reason, some park signs are there to remind park users that there are regulations in place to keep the space wild and natural.
A few examples are worth talking about.
It’s spring, and parks may post signs reminding visitors not to pick the wildflowers. The wildflowers bloom there from year to year because they are allowed to complete a life cycle that includes setting seed for future years. Park visitors who want to grow wildflowers in their own yards can find local plant and seed sales every spring by subscribing to local park bulletins. Leaving the flowers in the park AND growing them at home preserves local plant life and expands its range, a double bonus. ASNV’s Audubon at Home can help you create beneficial wildlife habitat where you live.
Dog chasing a duck, Marian Okal via Pixabay
Another example of important park signs are the reminders to keep dogs on a leash outside of designated dog parks. Because people love their dogs and want them to enjoy themselves, they often ignore this important rule. Peralta emphasizes that pets are an extension of you, the owner, and pets’ behaviors are the owner’s responsibility. Dogs, when off-leash in natural areas, may act on instinct and chase wildlife, disrupt living habitats such as bird nests, and trample over critical plants. Off-leash in a natural area a dog may poop where an owner has a hard time picking it up, spreading e-coli and other contaminants. They also can spread seeds of invasive plants that the park has to control to protect native plants important to local wildlife.
Parks also post signs asking users to keep on marked trails. Just as off-leash dogs can unwittingly harm local resources, off-trail hikers can accidentally disturb local wildlife and spread non-native invasive plants in areas the park naturalists make efforts to preserve. Pay attention always to the posted signs indicating where you can and can’t walk and ride bikes.
So, the signs aren’t there to nag or keep you from enjoying the park, but to remind you what you need to do to preserve the space you are enjoying. Taking time to learn about the local ecosystems and the effects your acts can have on these spaces can make a huge difference to local efforts to restore and preserve natural areas in our parks. The small changes even one individual makes are important to the overall health of the park, particularly when that individual then goes on to help others understand the importance that each person’s decisions can have on our valuable natural resources.
Then, Take Positive Steps to Help Out and Be a Part of Your Local Communities!
Of course, if you want to do more, there are lots of opportunities to have an even greater positive effect. Many local projects to restore and preserve natural areas are available to all. Peralta cited as examples ASNV’s Stretch Our Parks initiatives as a great place to start getting involved while also learning more about the many wildlife habitats that exist in our public parks that need protection. Activities include monthly park clean ups, educational events, and monitoring threats to habitat loss. This program blends conservation and community and is a great resource for getting first-hand experience in conservation. Younger community members may want to investigate Nextgen Birders for Conservation, which connects younger generations for birdwatching, education, and conservation projects.
According to Peralta, one of the most important steps to being a sustainable park goer is taking the time you spend in parks and the knowledge you get from those park visits beyond the parks, extending conservation into your own homes and neighborhoods. The first step in changing from a “tourist” that is apart from nature to being a part of nature, is education. Then take that knowledge into your community, and act on it in the parks and your neighborhood, encouraging others to follow your example. You can start with ASNV’s website which lists a broad array of classes and events to help you learn about nature, as well as information on creating natural habitat at your home, preventing birds from colliding with your windows, and protecting yourself from mosquitos and ticks without killing all the local insects.
The more you do for nature, the more nature will do for you. Let’s all help our local parks.