South Carolina Wildlife Federation celebrates first anniversary of “Columbia Community Wildlife Habitat Day”
October 12, 2020
It has been a full year since Mayor Stephen Benjamin declared October 11th “Columbia’s Community Wildlife Habitat Day” in honor of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation’s (SCWF’s) accomplishment of certifying South Carolina’s capital city as a Community Wildlife Habitat. The 2019 proclamation was made at Historic Columbia’s Robert Mills House & Gardens with National Wildlife Federation President and CEO Collin O’Mara, SCWF’s Executive Director Sara Green, among others.
The City of Columbia joined more than 200 communities in the United States to be certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat and became the largest community in South Carolina to receive the certification. The National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program was created to encourage communities to become more wildlife-friendly through the use of native plants and sustainable land management.
Now, a year since the certification, SCWF is continuing to see additional residents of Columbia take action in their own backyards to create Certified Wildlife Habitats. More than 50 individuals have worked to create and restore precious habitat for native species since the October 11th ceremony.
“It is truly incredible to see the number of business and individuals taking action for wildlife in South Carolina,” said SCWF Executive Director Sara Green. “Not only are residents of Columbia working hard to provide space for wildlife, the entire state is seeing record numbers of Certified Wildlife Habitats. It is a positive trend we hope continues each year as we celebrate Columbia’s Community Wildlife Habitat Day.”
SCWF encourages anyone who is interested in learning the process for creating a Certified Wildlife Habitat to visit their website here. In addition to wildlife habitat resources, SCWF recently began providing free educational webinars for South Carolinians to learn more about the wildlife found in the state. You can find links to the education videos by visiting their online nature learning resource page here.
About the South Carolina Wildlife Federation
One of the 52 state & territory affiliates of the National Wildlife Federation, the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) is the oldest conservation organization in the state and prides itself on science-based wildlife conservation policy and high-quality education programs. SCWF’s mission is to conserve and restore South Carolina’s wildlife and wildlife habitat through education and advocacy. For more information, visit: www.scwf.org.
