Backyard Habitat Program

Create a home for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife in your own backyard

Want to help wildlife in Wisconsin? Look no further than your own backyard!  By participating in the National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat program, which is administered in partnership with the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, you can help provide valuable wildlife habitat at your home, school, workplace, or in your community.

By participating in this program, you’ll help us promote and create wildlife habitat in Wisconsin’s urban areas. By planting natural landscapes, you’ll be doing your part to restore the ecology of the land on which you live and help reduce the impact of commercial and residential development.

You’ll learn (and so will your neighbors or co-workers) how you can have daily wildlife experiences by including native plants in your landscape. As a side benefit, you’ll find that native plants need less water, fertilizer, and pesticides than non-native species.

Participating in this program is easy. All you need to do is provide the four basic elements that wildlife needs to survive: 1) food, 2) water, 3) cover to protect against the elements and predators, and 4) places to reproduce and bear young in safety. The methods for providing these basic elements can be simple and inexpensive, or as elaborate as you choose.

To learn more about what you can do to make a welcoming place for wildlife, please visit the Backyard Wildlife Habitat program’s web site.

If you think your yard already meets all the certification criteria by providing food, water, cover, and places to raise young for wildlife then you may apply online or download an application for certification from National Wildlife Federation’s web site or call 1-800-822-9919. The certification component of the program is a way we can acknowledge your efforts for providing a special place for wildlife and for being a responsible steward of the land. Once your application is approved, you will receive a certificate with your own unique habitat number, the quarterly Habitats Newsletter, additional information about habitats, the option of purchasing an attractive metal, weather resistant yard sign, and a letter from Larry Schweiger, NWF President & Chief Executive Officer.

Your participation in the Backyard Wildlife Habitat program is an easy and enjoyable introduction to nature that can yield a lifelong commitment to conservation. It is one of many efforts of the National Wildlife Federation and its state affiliates such as the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, work to educate, inspire, and assist people in protecting wildlife and the environment.