How Parks Support Environmental Stewardship

Parks are huge assets to their communities. They’re ideal places for all kinds of recreation activities, provide a free place for healthy exercise, and are a community space for gatherings and events. Yet perhaps the most important function of parks is their role as an environmental asset. They play the critical part of protecting natural resources and educating future generations. They have lasting environmental impact, from supporting wildlife habitats to improving air quality. Through thoughtful park and playground design, we can encourage environmental stewardship and help communities become active participants in conservation efforts. Let’s explore how!

What Is Environmental Stewardship?

Environmental stewardship is defined as the responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices to enhance ecosystem resilience and human well-being. (Source: NOAA) Good parks naturally embody the principles of environmental stewardship. They’re the perfect places to protect native plants and trees, create pollinator habitats, and provide opportunities for people to connect with nature and learn about sustainability. Local parks, big and small, are also a key part of stewardship because they provide an accessible option for communities to address climate resilience and environmental challenges. In the following paragraphs, we’ll get into different ways parks can intentionally achieve stewardship, as mentioned above: Native plants, pollinator habitats, tree conservation, and sustainability education.

Native Plants: Supporting Local Ecosystems

Why Native Plants Matter

By planting and growing native plants at the park, you’re supporting your local ecosystem! Native plants occur naturally in the region where they evolved, providing the ecological basis upon which life depends, including people. Without them, local insects and birds cannot survive. (Source: Audubon Society) Because they are adapted to local climate and soil conditions, they naturally require less irrigation, fertilizer, and maintenance than non-native species. They’re also the most resilient to the local weather conditions.

Benefits for Parks

Because of the host of benefits that come with native plants being indigenous to their environment, parks that choose to grow them:

• Reduce their energy consumption and pollution through limited need for mowing and other maintenance costs
• Improve biodiversity by providing pollen, seeds, and leaves for native butterflies, insects, birds, and other animals
• Enhance seasonal interest and visual appeal with beautiful natural views, and the ability to stagger native blooms throughout the seasons
• Provide educational opportunities through nature trails or community gardening initiatives

Create and certify a native plant habitat! (Source: National Wildlife Federation)

Creating Habitat for Pollinators

Why Pollinators Matter

Pollinators like bees, butterflies, moths, birds, and bats are essential to healthy ecosystems. One out of every three bites of food you eat grew because of pollinators! In fact, three-fourths of the whole world’s flowering plants and about 35% of the world’s food depends on animal pollinators. (Source: USDA) Tragically, many pollinator populations have declined due to habitat loss.

Benefits & Features for Parks

Thankfully, we can help pollinators and it’s relatively easy to do so! Here are some park features that benefit us and our local pollinators:

• Pollinator gardens: Featuring pollinator host plants, specifically butterfly gardens that can host bee hotels, birdhouses, and bat houses
• Wildflower meadows: Featuring native flowering plants from your local ecosystem
• Reduced mowing areas: Protects pollinators, and goes hand-in-hand with pollinator gardens and wildflower meadows
• Educational displays: For example, signs placed around pollinator gardens can explain what beneficial host plants are growing and what kinds of pollinators might live there

Learn more about creating habitats for pollinators: Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Program

The Benefits of Trees in Parks

Why Trees Matter

Trees are the lungs of the Earth; They improve air quality by filtering pollutants, and they capture and store carbon. Trees in urban areas play the important role of reducing the heat island effect, a phenomenon caused by heat-trapping surfaces like concrete and asphalt. These materials absorb the sun’s energy and radiate it back into the air, raising temperatures. (Source: Arbor Day Foundation) Planting trees is essential to keeping communities healthy and cool as they face increasingly hot weather.

Benefits for Parks

Trees provide a wealth of benefits, not limited to:

• Providing natural shade and comfort
• Extending the usability of parks during warmer months
• Improving physical and mental health and wellbeing (there’s science to back this up!)

We also want to note some planning considerations if you want to include trees in your park’s landscape:

• Preserve trees during park construction; An arborist can help you identify key tree species to keep.
• Select a diverse amount of native tree species to support a vibrant ecosystem.
• When planting, plan for the future canopy coverage your trees will provide; Your trees will grow, and their canopies may expand significantly.

Learn more about the value of trees: Community Impact of Trees (Source: Arbor Day Foundation)

Teaching Responsible Recreation Through Leave No Trace Principles

Why Leave No Trace Matters

The 7 Principles of Leave No Trace are a framework of minimum impact practices for anyone visiting the outdoors:

1. Plan ahead & prepare
2. Travel & camp on durable surfaces
3. Dispose of waste properly
4. Leave what you find
5. Minimize campfire impacts
6. Respect wildlife
7. Be considerate of others

These principles can be applied anywhere and are so important for our local parks. Through following them, we can ensure everyone, no matter where they’re exploring, has the knowledge and tools to enjoy nature and minimize their impact. Guiding people to make low-impact decisions helps preserve our parks for future generations, while reducing maintenance and environmental impacts in the present. We’ve derived some key principles from Leave No Trace to follow in public parks:

• Dispose of waste properly: Use designated waste bins.
• Respect wildlife: Appreciating wildlife means being able to witness them in their natural habitat, but not to disturb or interact with them.
• Leave natural features where they are: Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.
• Stay on designated trails: Don’t step into protected areas of parks – you could be unintentionally trampling native wildlife or plants trying to grow.
• Be considerate of others: Be aware of those around you as your share public spaces – they should be safe and comfortable for everyone.

Features for Parks

To educate your community about The Principles of Leave No Trace, there are several things you can do throughout the park:

• Signage and educational programs: Work with our team to create educational signage around Leave No Trace principles and empower locals to create educational programs.
• Volunteer cleanup events: Facilitate volunteer clean-up events to spread awareness about proper waste disposal, respecting local wildlife, and being considerate of others.
• Youth environmental education initiatives: By including proper signage in your park, you can create a perfect landmark for youth education around Leave No Trace for schools and camps.

Learn more: Creating Playful Pathways: Play Pockets for Trails

Parks are perfect partners in conservation efforts. They’re uniquely positioned to connect people with nature while simultaneously supporting healthier ecosystems, helping both protect and preserve natural spaces and encourage happier and healthier communities. Through native plants, pollinator habitats, tree preservation, and responsible recreation practices, communities can create parks that achieve in doing just that: Benefiting both people and the environment. Environmental stewardship is about protecting nature, and about protecting us. But, the most important thing it’s about is building stronger, healthier communities for future generations.

Looking to champion environmental stewardship and incorporate sustainable features into your next park project? Connect with our team to explore ways to create and support outdoor spaces that support both recreation and nature.