Restoring the Life-Blood of the Landscape
Farmers who have Waterways can make a big impact by conserving and restoring riparian areas which disproportionately support a larger number of plants and wildlife than their adjacent farmlands.
About 70% of the riparian habitat in the U.S. has been polluted, drained or scraped bare.
Restoring riparian habitat buffers farmers’ fields against flooding, improves water quality and quantity on the farm and beyond, and also provides habitat for native carnivores and other animals trying to move safely between wild places on the landscape.
Our goal is to inspire 10% of river frontage on farms to be planted as Farmland Waterways, leading to 100,000 miles of riverine habitat.
The beavers, frogs and fish swimming in the water, and the birds and land mammals moving through the riverside habitat will be thriving if living buffers are in place. They can sense health and are drawn to it. The vegetation provides clean water, food and cover for these species. To have healthy waterways then requires that we manage for healthy landscapes.
Natural enemies, such as lady bugs, parasitoid wasps, and songbirds that live in riverine habitat will move out into the farm when pest insects are on the rise. Rodent-eating predators that are traveling the riparian corridor will seek out their prey on farms, as will raptors when trees are present from which they can hunt. The riparian vegetation is also valuable because it stabilizes banks during flooding events, and riparian soils help to recharge groundwater.
Three easy ways to get involved: