How does a bird experience a city? A backyard? A park? As the world has become more urban, noisier from increased traffic, and brighter from streetlights and office buildings, it has also become more dangerous for countless species of birds. Warblers become disoriented by nighttime lights and collide with buildings. Ground-feeding sparrows fall prey to feral cats. Hawks and other birds-of-prey are sickened by rat poison. These name just a few of the myriad hazards. How do our cities need to change in order to reduce the threats, often created unintentionally, that have resulted in nearly three billion birds lost in North America alone since the 1970s? In The Bird-Friendly City, Timothy Beatley, a longtime advocate for intertwining the built and natural environments, takes readers on a global tour of cities that are reinventing the status quo with birds in mind. Efforts span a fascinating breadth of approaches: public education, urban planning and design, habitat restoration, architecture, art, civil disobedience, and more. Beatley shares empowering examples, including: advocates for “catios,” enclosed outdoor spaces that allow cats to enjoy backyards without being able to catch birds; a public relations campaign for vultures; and innovations in building design that balance aesthetics with preventing bird strikes. Through these changes and the others Beatley describes, it is possible to make our urban environments more welcoming to many bird species. Readers will come away motivated to implement and advocate for bird-friendly changes, with inspiring examples to draw from. Whether birds are migrating and need a temporary shelter or are taking up permanent residence in a backyard, when the environment is safer for birds, humans are happier as well.

Nature-Friendly Communities presents an authoritative and readable overview of the successful approaches to protecting biodiversity and natural areas in America's growing communities. Addressing the crucial issues of sprawl, open space, and political realities, Chris Duerksen and Cara Snyder explain the most effective steps that communities can take to protect nature. The book: documents the broad range of benefits, including economic impacts, resulting from comprehensive biodiversity protection efforts; identifies and disseminates information on replicable best community practices; establishes benchmarks for evaluating community biodiversity protection programs. Nine comprehensive case studies of communities explain how nature protection programs have been implemented. From Austin and Baltimore to Tucson and Minneapolis, the authors explore how different cities and counties have taken bold steps to successfully protect natural areas. Examining program structure and administration, land acquisition strategies and sources of funding, habitat restoration programs, social impacts, education efforts, and overall results, these case studies lay out perfect examples that other communities can easily follow. Among the case study sites are Sanibel Island, Florida; Austin, Texas; Baltimore County, Maryland; Charlotte Harbor, Florida; and Teton County, Wyoming. Nature-Friendly Communities offers a useful overview of the increasing number of communities that have established successful nature protection programs and the significant benefits those programs provide. It is an important new work for public officials, community activists, and anyone concerned with understanding or implementing local or regional biodiversity protection efforts.

• How to maintain environmental balance and attract wildlife • Applies to all backyard gardens, large and small with specific information on creating ponds and other water features • Accessible gardening tips for seniors and people with disabilities Many people approach gardening as a constant struggle with the outside world. They're perpetually at war with nature, investing in weed killers and fighting off deer and birds, all in an effort to preserve their garden as a pristine patch of earth. Marlene A. Condon proposes a radically different method: What if, instead of battling the natural world, we invite it into our backyards? The result is the nature-friendly garden, which attracts and meets the needs of common creatures--rabbits, toads, insects, squirrels, owls, and so on--while maintaining a thriving, varied landscape of flowers and plants. And as this thought-provoking guide demonstrates, coexisting with nature doesn't mean turning your yard into a bramble-infested wilderness. The sustainable, low-impact garden described in these pages is a model of environmental balance, fostering species diversity while keeping wildlife damage and invasive plant growth at an acceptable minimum. Best of all, it offers a privileged look at the workings of nature, and its advice on observing wildlife is sure to open up a new and fascinating world for even the most experienced gardener.

KONSEPT PROJELER® (KP) is a publication platform related to architecture, design, projects and living spaces offering refined information to its readers.

"This unique book is organized around eight detailed case studies of private land developers, local governments, and public agencies that have worked across jurisdictional and ecological boundaries to effectively address habitat conservation. The book includes two essays by leading conservation biologists who link planning at scale with sound land use decisions." --Book Jacket.

Human beings require nourishment for the body, mind, and soul. To nourish tomorrow demands sustainable, clean and healthy food, water, air, healthcare, energy, living quarters, communities, and governance for everyone. This volume brings together twenty-four experts — comprising engineers, scientists, economists, architects, academics, and public servants from around the world — to share their views on how we could sustainably nourish people and the planet.In this book, the theme of building environments in which life — human and non-human — can co-exist, grow, and thrive in, is explored from multiple aspects. From agriculture and food security to drinking water, energy generation, energy storage, waste management and treatment, to building for and encouraging biodiversity in marinas, to establishing resilient communities that can recover quickly from both manmade and natural disasters.This book is a valuable resource for readers in the fields of biological science, agriculture, and sustainability. It is also a thought-provoking volume for those who simply want to know more about the complex issue of nourishing the world.

Immersed in the natural world, The Organic Artist for Kids inspires creativity by connecting kids and their adults to our wilderness roots. In addition to offering a wide variety of fun, collaborative projects using nature as a source for art supplies and inspiration, this book also introduces the concepts of awareness and perception that are fundamental to the creative process. Children will be encouraged to learn new skills, build resilience, and be resourceful as part of an urgent struggle to prevent and undo Nature Deficit Disorder. Rooted in experimentation and an understanding that fun is fundamental to learning, kids will refine their drawing skills, as well as increase their appreciation for the visual arts and the natural landscape. Just some of the projects and skills covered include: Making pens and wild inks Making paint from stones and rocks Crafting your own paintbrushes Making simple stencils and rubbings The Organic Artist for Kids encourages you to return to the days when art was made with all-natural materials like charcoal and birch bark.

Promoting a holistic ecological view, Tammi Hartung encourages you to invite wildlife into your garden. You’ll be amazed at how a variety of natural pollinators, pest predators, and soil enrichers can promote vibrant and healthy vegetables. Discover how a slug problem disappears once you’ve introduced a pond housing bullfrogs, how wasps can take care of tomato hornworms, and why skunks aren’t so bad after all. Learn how to garden with animals, rather than against them, and reap your most bountiful harvest yet.

Learning about ecology and how to save the planet is fun with this environmentally aware coloring book. Thirty illustrations depict children engaging in numerous recycling activities and other energy-conserving practices.