Now you can turn your yard into a Certified Firefly Habitat
What you can do to save fireflies
Fireflies should not just be a childhood memory when we sat out on the porch and watched fireflies flicker all around us.
And they don’t have to be. Even if you live in the heart of an urban area you can take steps to make fireflies a part of your life again.
Or, maybe fireflies never stopped being a part of your life. Maybe you have been doing everything right and still enjoy plenty of the little insects lighting up your summer evenings.
Either way this is good news for you.
Firefly Conservation and Research, an organization committed to saving fireflies worldwide, has just announced a new program for homeowners and other groups such as schools to have their properties approved as “Certified Firefly Habitats.”
For homeowners who want to bring back fireflies to their properties, the program will guide you to create the right habitat to encourage fireflies and encourage you to reach the goal of creating a Certified Firefly Habitat.
And, for those homeowners or groups who have already been working hard to create these favourable habitats, they are more than welcome to share their hard work with neighbours in the form of a sign that can be displayed on your property.
Check out my earlier post on attracting fireflies to your backyard.
How to get your Certified Firefly Habitat
Make a firefly haven in your own yard and join the thousands of others who have done the same. Join individuals and organizations who have committed to providing the essential elements needed to create and sustain a healthy habitat for adult and larval fireflies.
Proudly display this sign to demonstrate your commitment to protecting firefly habitat. The sign is made of recycled aluminum, is easy to read and waterproof. The size is 9″ x 12′′. “Made in the USA.” Exclusive.
The organization behind the habitat certification
Firefly Conservation & Research is a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 by Ben Pfeiffer, a firefly researcher, and Texas-certified master naturalist with a degree in biology from Texas State University.
Ben points out that fireflies need protection now. “Across the United States and worldwide, rapid and large-scale changes to our lands and watersheds mean fireflies are losing the habitats they once knew. Every step we can take to protect land for the fireflies to thrive is a step towards a literally ‘brighter’ future for new generations to enjoy,” he writes on his website Firefly.org.
“Join us in our mission to help to certify habitats, backyards, and nature preserves to provide a permanent place for fireflies to exist,” he adds.
• If you are considering creating a meadow in your front or backyard, be sure to check out The Making of a Meadow post for a landscape designer’s take on making a meadow in her own front yard.
“The Certified Firefly Habitat program is a first of its kind certification program to address the issues leading to declining habitat for fireflies. Ben will teach participants how to curate their habitat so that it provides all of the elements needed for fireflies to establish an existing and growing population on their land.
Those wishing to start the certification program will be asked to provide the following elements on their land:
Providing undisturbed cover for adults and glowing larvae
Encouraging plant diversity to preserve soil moisture
Reducing Light Pollution
Restricting Pesticide Usage
A certification guide will be available for you to download to help guide you in this process. This checklist will help you meet all the requirements necessary to provide firefly habitat.The guide will also teach you about:
The Firefly Life Cycle
What kinds of fireflies you are protecting
How habitat degradation and loss affect fireflies
What invasive species do to firefly habitat
Methods to manage your habitat from surveying methods, documentation, putting up protective barriers to prevent trampling.
Other insightful and creative ways to protect fireflies beyond just your land.