PlanNatureNYC

I hope you don’t need convincing that New York City is full of wildness. And a good thing too, for Thoreau summarized our vital need for the wild when he said that “in wildness is the salvation of the world.” His “wildness” is usually mis-remembered as “wilderness,” but no, he wasn’t talking about the far reaches of the planet; he was talking about his backyard, the fields around Concord, Mass., largely de-forested and heavily farmed in his day.

Actually, in an era when tons of garbage are cleared off Mt. Everest and Greenland’s ice is black with industrial particulate, the argument that wilderness may not even exist anymore is a strong one. (WTF have we done?) But wildness, now that’s a different animal. The wild is a tenacious beast, hanging on in the face of our physical, chemical, and atmospheric assaults (not to mention the ideological ones).

Thoreau was talking about the equivalent of your front and back yard. He was talking about the empty lots. The community gardens and parks big and small. The very cracks in the sidewalk. The street trees, which are habitats for invertebrates, birds, and mammals, as well as wonders of life in of themselves.

But you know that. This blog is stuffed with examples of life-forms all around us here in Brooklyn.

Now there’s a movement afoot to make our leaders pay attention to the rich and varied habitats of NYC. I hope you’ll consider getting involved in making biodiversity a reality of the planning going on for our future. Sign this petition to get the attention of the PlanNYC poobahs.

After all, it begins right here in our backyards.
An American Robin nest in Prospect Park last spring; note how it’s reinforced with mud and lined with tender fresh grass. Let’s make sure those beautiful blue eggs to come have a place in the future.