The UUCCH Arboretum includes a garden space that improves the habitat of birds, butterflies, frogs and more.
National Wildlife Federation, America’s largest wildlife conservation and education organization, is pleased to recognize that the Unitarian Universalist Church Arboretum in Cherry Hill has successfully created a Certified Wildlife Habitat through its Garden for Wildlife program. NWF celebrates the efforts of the UUCCH Arboretum to create a garden space that improves habitat for birds, butterflies, frogs and other wildlife by providing essential elements needed by all wildlife — natural food sources, clean water, cover and places to raise young. Certification also makes your Certified Wildlife Habitat part of the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge, a national effort to restore critical habitat for pollinators.
“We are so excited to have another passionate wildlife gardener join us and create a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Over the last 40 years, nearly 200,000 wildlife gardeners have joined NWF’s Garden for Wildlife movement and helped restore wildlife habitat right in their own yards and neighborhoods,” said David Mizejewski, naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation. “Whether you garden in a suburban yard, an apartment balcony or a 10-acre farm, a schoolyard or a business park, or anything in between, everyone can create a home for local wildlife. Turning your space into a Certified Wildlife Habitat is fun, easy and makes a big difference for neighborhood wildlife.”
“The Arboretum is a great place for wildlife,” said Les Engels, Arboretum committee chair and curator. “On any given day, you can find birds and butterflies in the pollinator garden, deer in the labyrinth or groves or rabbits hopping around the solar panels. We want to maintain a balance with nature as the green spaces shrink in Camden County, and the 17 acres that the arboretum preserves with its hundreds of species of plants affords us that opportunity.
“Our Pollinator Garden is tended by Amelie Mcgeehan-Harris. She’s just a loving kind soul who designed a garden with as many native plants as possible to attract birds, and butterflies while remaining aesthetically pleasing. Amelie has done so much to create a great little habitat here that we decided to place the sign showing our certification at her garden to thank her. It’s really something to see in the summer.”
